Summary: This issue publishes General Secretary Xi Jinping's important article explaining the "Decision" on advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, addressing the agenda of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee and related theoretical and practical questions. The issue includes articles by the editorial department, a commentator, Zhang Zhongjun, and Wang Dongqi on Party governance, Party building thought, Party spirit cultivation, and anti-corruption effectiveness. It also covers Xi Jinping's speech on the 90th anniversary of the Long March victory, with Ju Li's article on taking the new Long March, and Mao Shengyong's analysis of China's stable economic performance in the first three quarters. The "In-depth Investigation" column features a joint research group's article on China's brain-computer interface industry, and the "Qiushi Interview" column explores mainstream media reform. The "Cultural China" column concludes with Zhong Zhe's article on the outstanding peacefulness of Chinese civilization.
Summary: Xi Jinping, entrusted by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, delivered an explanation to the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party on the drafting of the "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Persistently Advancing Full and Rigorous Self-Governance of the Party." He outlined the considerations for setting the agenda, emphasizing that persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance is an inevitable requirement for maintaining the Party's advanced nature and purity, consolidating its long-term governing position, and fulfilling its historical mission amid accelerating changes unseen in a century. Xi detailed the drafting process, noting that the drafting group, with Wang Huning, Cai Qi, and Li Xi as deputy heads, solicited opinions widely, including from democratic parties and non-Party personages. He then explained the Decision's basic framework, which is divided into three sections covering general requirements, specific strategic tasks across seven parts, and arrangements for improving Party and state supervision systems and implementing political responsibility. The explanation concluded by urging participants to deliberate carefully and revise the draft well.
Summary: The Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party was held from October 26 to 29, deliberating and adopting the "Decision" on persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, with General Secretary Xi Jinping delivering a work report, explaining the draft, and giving an important speech. The article emphasizes that persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party is an inevitable requirement for maintaining the Party's advanced nature, consolidating its governing position, and realizing its historical mission, especially amid accelerating global changes and domestic challenges. It outlines the "Decision's" guiding ideology, seven principles, and seven strategic tasks, including strengthening Party spirit, enforcing democratic centralism, building a high-quality cadre contingent, and advancing anti-corruption efforts. The piece stresses the need to study and implement Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building and the plenary session's spirit, with responsibility in place across Party organizations and cadres. It concludes that full and rigorous self-governance guarantees rather than hinders economic and social development, and must be persistently advanced without slackening.
Summary: A Qiushi commentator argues that the Party must advance the study, publicity, and implementation of Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building to ensure the country remains strong. The article highlights the Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Persistently Advancing Full and Rigorous Self-Governance of the Party as a programmatic document that implements this Thought. To achieve these goals, the commentator calls for unifying actions with the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee and implementing strategic tasks such as enhancing Party spirit, forging high-caliber cadres, and fighting corruption. Furthermore, the article emphasizes the necessity of solving prominent problems regarding impure ideology and conduct while strengthening the responsibility system for governing and rigorously self-governing the Party.
Summary: Zhang Zhongjun, Vice President of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, writes that Party spirit determines the conduct of Party members, and that strengthening Party spirit cultivation must be a lifelong subject. He cites General Secretary Xi Jinping on the role of Party spirit and the Fifth Plenary Session's emphasis on it as the fundamental task of full and rigorous self-governance. The article argues that tempering strong Party spirit is essential for maintaining the Party's advanced nature, unity, and ability to face risks, and outlines key areas including ideals, loyalty, people-centeredness, seeking truth from facts, and integrity. It calls on Party members to forge Party spirit through loyalty education, theoretical study of Xi Jinping Thought, fine traditions, and practical exercise.
Summary: The article, authored by Wang Dongqi, Deputy Director and Professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, argues for intensifying the integrated approach to anti-corruption, ensuring officials "do not dare to be corrupt, cannot be corrupt, and do not want to be corrupt." It traces the evolution of this strategy from Comrade Xi Jinping's early work in Zhejiang through successive Central Commission for Discipline Inspection plenums, emphasizing the need to address both symptoms and root causes. The piece critiques "stage theory" and "link theory" misunderstandings that fragment the integrated effort, and calls for maintaining a high-pressure posture in punishing corruption, strengthening power restriction and supervision, and deepening integrity education. It details specific measures, including investigating corruption in key areas, improving institutional mechanisms, and enhancing the comprehensive effectiveness of the integrated advancement.
Summary: This article is a theoretical commentary by Ju Li commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Red Army's Long March, arguing that its victory was fundamentally a victory of firm ideals and convictions. It emphasizes that the new Long March requires upholding the Party's core leadership, with the Two Establishments and Two Upholds as the fundamental guarantee, and stresses the need to serve the people wholeheartedly to avoid becoming divorced from the masses. The piece also warns against dogmatism, calling for adherence to seeking truth from facts and the Sinicization of Marxism, while highlighting the necessity of daring struggle amid complex domestic and international challenges. It concludes by urging continued Party self-governance and self-revolution to ensure the Party remains a strong leadership core on the new journey.
Summary: Sun Jinlong, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, argues that implementing accountability for ecological and environmental protection responsibilities is key to ensuring the Party Central Committee's decisions are carried out. He identifies failures among principal local Party and government leaders, relevant leading members, departmental officials, and central enterprise leaders, citing examples from central ecological and environmental protection inspections such as illegal development, inadequate river chief system implementation, and unchecked "two high" projects. He attributes these problems to insufficient ideological understanding, capability mismatches, and imperfect systems, including a disconnect between assessment and accountability. The article highlights the newly revised *Measures for Accountability for Ecological and Environmental Damage by Party and Government Leading Officials*, issued in August 2026, which broadens accountability targets and emphasizes lifelong accountability. Sun concludes by outlining the Ministry's plans to strengthen inspection deterrence, carry out precise accountability, establish scientific assessment systems, and form a joint force for effective accountability work.
Summary: Mao Shengyong, a member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Commissioner of the National Bureau of Statistics, assesses China's economic performance in the first three quarters of 2026, reporting GDP growth of 4.6 percent year on year. He argues this growth was achieved despite internal and external challenges, including geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East and the domestic transition between old and new growth drivers. The article highlights the rapid growth of new drivers, such as high-end manufacturing and the digital economy, which contributed more than 40 percent to economic growth, alongside structural upgrading and improved development quality. It also details the moderate recovery of prices, with CPI rising 0.9 percent and PPI rising 2.3 percent year on year, attributing this to energy security, supply chain resilience, and effective policies. Mao concludes that the foundation for sustained and healthy economic development is solid, citing the effective maintenance of stability, accumulating factors of improvement, and continuously accumulating drivers of "newness."
Summary: The article, based on a joint investigation by the Qiushi Magazine Economic Editorial Department and the Industrial Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission, surveys the brain-computer interface industry's distance from real-world productivity across science, engineering, industry, and governance. It notes that while China has approved the world's first invasive brain-computer interface medical device and completed the first commercial implantation at Huashan Hospital, the industry faces hurdles such as unclear business models, payment pathways, and neural data governance rules. The report highlights that capital heat, including Neuralink's high valuation despite no commercial product, risks misjudging technological maturity, and that upstream core devices and materials remain externally dependent. It argues that governance must balance innovation with bottom lines like life safety and data ownership, advocating for collaborative regulation and "bottom lines + sandbox + dynamic iteration" approaches. The article concludes that China, having listed brain-computer interfaces as a key future industry during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, should coordinate scientific exploration, engineering validation, industrial transformation, and governance to accelerate the transformation of achievements into real-world productivity.
Summary: The article argues that China's economy faces a prominent contradiction of strong supply and weak demand, which constrains stable operations and high-quality development. The author contends that this contradiction stems from the traditional economic development model's emphasis on production over distribution, export orientation, investment-driven growth, and scale expansion inertia. The fundamental solution lies in promoting a new economic development model that is dominated by domestic demand, driven by consumption, and characterized by endogenous growth, as proposed by the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee. The author emphasizes that this transformation requires deepening reforms to smooth the economic cycle, optimize the supply-demand structure, and reshape the driving mechanism. The piece concludes by outlining specific reform measures, including building a unified national market, enhancing residents' consumption capacity, and deepening reforms in science and technology, factor allocation, and investment and financing systems.
Summary: Yang Rudai, a professor at Peking University's School of Economics, argues that artificial intelligence provides a historic opportunity for productivity growth but its potential will not automatically translate into gains, requiring complementary investments, organizational changes, and institutional reforms. He notes that China has systematic advantages in technology, talent, industry, and market, yet faces challenges including insufficient expansion of AI from the "digital world" to the "physical world," a tendency among enterprises to use AI mainly for cost savings, and constraints on market selection and factor mobility. The article cites that nearly 70 percent of surveyed entrepreneurs regard "reducing costs and increasing efficiency" as AI's greatest value, and that the combined AI industry scale of Beijing, Guangdong, Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Shandong accounts for over 80 percent of the national total. To better translate AI potential into productivity growth, Yang recommends strengthening the supply of computing power, algorithms, and data, deepening the "Artificial Intelligence Plus" initiative for small and medium-sized enterprises, and building a unified national market. He also emphasizes accelerating an employment-friendly development model to form a virtuous cycle between productivity growth and demand expansion, citing General Secretary Xi Jinping's statement that "artificial intelligence is a new engine for world economic growth."
Summary: In a Qiushi exclusive interview, five media leaders and scholars discussed deepening the systematic reform of mainstream media, emphasizing that it is a life-and-death breakout, not an optional improvement, driven by the restructuring of information distribution by internet platforms and the risk of generational user loss. Cui Shixin stressed that reform means promoting the main force into the main battlefield, requiring systematic transformation of thinking, organizational structures, production processes, and evaluation systems, with the core being unified standards for positive energy, high quality, and high traffic. Zhao Jiaming highlighted Shanghai's progress, including merging client terminals of major newspapers and achieving 560 million total followers for Shanghai United Media Group, while urging policy protection and institutional reshaping. Gong Zhengwen and Huang Changkai called for holistic ecological reform, with Huang noting that print media's decline stems from failed user connection and advocating for state-owned media enterprises to receive high-quality resources. Zhang Zhian warned that while AI empowers reform, the irreplaceable 1 percent inspiration—creativity, empathy, and insight—must be nurtured, and all agreed that improving writing style and talent cultivation are essential, with leaders needing to identify and use talent decisively.
Summary: The article, part of the "Cultural China" series, elaborates on the "outstanding peacefulness" of Chinese civilization, a concept first summarized by General Secretary Xi Jinping at the June 2, 2023 Symposium on Cultural Inheritance and Development. It argues that this peacefulness, rooted in agricultural life, political traditions of internal governance, and the ideological value of "valuing harmony above all else," explains why China is a builder of world peace and will not impose its values on others. The piece critiques Western arguments such as the "theory that a strong state is bound to seek hegemony" and the "clash of civilizations theory," asserting that China's historical strength did not lead to hegemony due to its civilizational gene. It also rejects the view that China's pluralistic unity was formed through aggression, framing it instead as a process of inward cohesion and cultural convergence. The article concludes by urging the promotion of a community with a shared future for mankind and the practice of the four major global initiatives.
Summary: The article, authored by Han Zhen, a researcher at the Beijing Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and Director of the Academic Committee of Beijing Normal University, argues that the value principle of "harmony in diversity" is essential for promoting exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations amid global turbulence. It cites General Secretary Xi Jinping's statements that the diversity of human civilizations is a basic feature of the world and a source of progress, and that differences between civilizations should drive human advancement rather than conflict. The piece contrasts China's approach, rooted in traditional values like Confucius's "the gentleman seeks harmony but not conformity," with the hegemonic bullying of certain countries that impose their own values as universal, a practice it says brings chaos and conflict. It contends that "harmony in diversity" is a method for maintaining social harmony and a path for safeguarding international fairness, justice, and world peace, advocating for dialogue and mutual respect over forced conformity. The article concludes that this principle, which has enabled China's historical continuity and rapid development since reform and opening up, should guide international relations to achieve win-win cooperation and common prosperity.
Summary: The article analyzes the real-world dilemmas facing global ocean governance, including maritime security risks, lagging deep-sea governance rules, and intensifying marine ecological pressures. It attributes these challenges to the rising strategic value of the oceans, hegemonic acts, interest conflicts, capacity gaps, and the fragmentation of governance actions. The authors propose adhering to the vision of a maritime community with a shared future, as stressed by General Secretary Xi Jinping, and promoting a just and equitable global ocean governance system. They call for improving risk control and mutual trust arrangements, building a balanced framework of interests for deep-sea resource development, and strengthening cross-border coordinated compliance mechanisms. The piece also notes unilateral regulatory arrangements by certain countries that bypass the International Seabed Authority and undermine the international seabed regime.
Summary: Yang Yuncheng, Director of the Department of Party History and Party Building Teaching and Research at the Party School of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, explains that upholding the building of a high-caliber cadre force capable of shouldering the heavy task of national rejuvenation is one of the Fourteen Commitments of Xi Jinping's thought on Party building. He cites Lenin, Mao Zedong, and Deng Xiaoping to argue that cultivating outstanding leading talents determines the rise and fall of the Party and state, and notes that since the 18th National Congress, the Party Central Committee has placed cadre building in a prominent position. He identifies current problems among cadres, such as lack of political acuity, weak responsibility, and formalism, and outlines measures including establishing a correct orientation for selecting officials, improving political ability, and strengthening management and oversight. He emphasizes combining strict management with deep care to inspire cadres' drive while ensuring they observe rules and discipline.
Summary: The letter, from Zhou Lingxi of the Organization Department of the Zhongyuan District Committee of Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, argues that grassroots cadres must move beyond merely "having a solution" to pursuing "an optimal solution" in their work. It criticizes cadres who use excuses like "no policy from above" to mask an unwillingness to solve problems, urging them to discard fixed thinking and focus on "how it can be done." The author contrasts "one-size-fits-all" approaches that leave sequelae with targeted, problem-specific measures that resolve urgent matters and future worries. The piece calls for less perfunctory "having done it" and more persistence in "having done it well," emphasizing that grassroots work has no standard answer but does have better methods. Party members and cadres are urged to sink to the front line, immerse themselves among the masses, and build confidence and gather popular support through solid work.
Summary: The article addresses "competence panic" among some cadres who have ideas but lack methods when facing new tasks, struggling with insufficient professional knowledge, operational pathways, and coordination. It argues that turning "ideas" into "methods" requires recharging through study, tempering through practice, seeking counsel from the masses, and breaking through through the assumption of responsibility. Methods come from studying systematically with problems in mind, from hands-on practice and review, from grassroots input and the masses' "indigenous methods," and from daring to assume responsibility in tackling contradictions. The piece emphasizes transforming knowledge reserves into problem-solving capacity and converting local strategies into replicable institutional achievements.
This issue publishes General Secretary Xi Jinping's important article "Explanation on the 'Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Continuously and Persistently Advancing Full and Rigorous Self-Governance of the Party.'" In the article, the General Secretary profoundly expounds the considerations behind setting the agenda of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party through the "three necessary requirements," comprehensively introduces the drafting process of the draft Decision and the five key aspects grasped in the drafting of the document, thoroughly explains the basic framework and main content of the draft Decision, and scientifically answers a series of major theoretical and practical questions concerning continuously and persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, providing important guidance for our accurate understanding and grasp of the spirit of the Plenary Session. We should, in conjunction with studying this important article, deeply study and understand General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech spirit and the Plenary Session's Decision, profoundly recognize the major significance of continuously and persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, implement and carry out the strategic deployments made by the Plenary Session, and, with higher standards and more concrete measures, build our Party better and stronger, providing a strong guarantee for comprehensively building a great modern socialist country and comprehensively advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese modernization.
Centering on studying and implementing the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party, especially the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important article, this issue carries an article by this journal's editorial department, which explains from three aspects how to continuously open up new prospects for governing and managing the Party and revitalizing and strengthening the Party in the new era; an article by this journal's commentator, which explains how to promote the study and implementation of Xi Jinping's thought on Party building to go deeper and more practical; an article by Zhang Zhongjun, which explains how Party members and cadres should strengthen Party spirit cultivation; and an article by Wang Dongqi, which explains how to enhance the comprehensive effectiveness of integrated advancement of not daring to be corrupt, being unable to be corrupt, and not wanting to be corrupt.
On October 22, 2026, General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the conference commemorating the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Long March of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. Ju Li's article explains how to study and implement the spirit of the General Secretary's important speech and how to take the new Long March well with firm ideals and convictions.
In the first three quarters, China's economy withstood pressure and maintained stable operation, and the development trend of moving toward the new, the superior, and the good continued to be consolidated. Mao Shengyong's article provides an explanation and interpretation of this.
The "In-depth Investigation" column publishes an article by a joint research group, introducing the development situation and research reflections on China's brain-computer interface industry. The "Qiushi Interview" column publishes an interview by this journal's reporter, exploring how to deepen the systematic reform of mainstream media. Starting from Issue 17, the "Cultural China" column has successively published research results by experts and scholars on the five outstanding characteristics of Chinese civilization; this issue is the final installment, and Zhong Zhe's article explains the outstanding peacefulness of Chinese civilization.
Return to TopBy: 习近平
Explanation of the "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Persistently Advancing Full and Rigorous Self-Governance of the Party"
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Xi Jinping
Comrades:
Entrusted by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, I will now provide an explanation to the Plenary Session on the drafting of the "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Persistently Advancing Full and Rigorous Self-Governance of the Party" (hereinafter referred to as the "Decision").
I. On the Considerations for Determining the Agenda of the Plenary Session
Party building bears on the future and destiny of the Party and on the success or failure of the cause of the Party and the state. This year marks the 105th anniversary of the founding of our Party. The Political Bureau of the Central Committee decided that the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party would focus its study on the issue of persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party. This is a major decision made by the Party Central Committee in grasping the historical juncture of the development of the cause of the Party and the state, focusing on the overall situation of Chinese modernization, and acting according to the prevailing circumstances (审时度势, shen shi du shi - "examine, time; situation, act") through comprehensive consideration.
First, this is an inevitable requirement for maintaining the Party's advanced nature and purity and consolidating its long-term governing position. How to break out of the historical cycle of rise and fall, order and chaos, is a fundamental question that our Party must answer well in its long-term governance. In this regard, Comrade Mao Zedong gave the first answer in the cave dwellings of Yan'an back then, namely, "letting the people supervise the government." Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, we have found the second answer, namely, "self-revolution," in the practice of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party. The Party's self-revolution has a strict definition, which is to turn the blade inward, to carry out full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, to maintain the Party's advanced nature and purity, and to realize the Party's self-purification, self-improvement, self-renewal, and self-enhancement. Over the past 100 years and more, in the historical process of leading the people in unremitting struggle to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, our Party has always attached great importance to governing and managing the Party, has been courageous in upholding truth and correcting errors, and has continuously grown stronger in solving its own problems by relying on its own strength and the support of the people. The century-old major Party is full of vitality and in its prime.
At the same time, we must be soberly aware that full and rigorous self-governance of the Party is a long-term strategic task. In recent years, the Party's ranks have undergone structural changes, with an increasing proportion of Party members and cadres born after the reform and opening up, which has raised new requirements for education and management. The mainstream of the Party's ranks is good, but there are still quite a few problems and hidden dangers that weaken the Party's advanced nature, impair its purity, and affect its long-term governance. In particular, the problems of impure ideology, impure organization, and impure work style have not been fundamentally solved, and some new problems are constantly emerging. Faced with these problems and challenges, only by persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party and continuously eliminating the viruses that erode the Party's healthy body can we ensure that the Party never changes its nature, its character, or its quality, and ensure that the red river and mountains are passed down from generation to generation.
Second, this is an inevitable requirement for consolidating and developing the sound political situation in which the whole Party is highly united and unified, and the hearts of the Party, the military, and the people are highly cohesive. After the 18th National Congress of the Party, the Party Central Committee directly faced the severe reality of a once-weakened, virtualized, and diluted Party leadership, lax, unreal, and ineffective Party governance and management, and some problems within the Party that were shocking or appalling to witness (触目惊心, chu mu jing xin - "eye, touch; heart, startle"). It unswervingly advanced full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, continuously solved prominent problems, fundamentally reversed the lax, loose, and soft state of Party governance and management, stopped some unhealthy tendencies that had not been stopped for a long time, corrected some deep-rooted maladies that had not been eliminated for many years, eliminated serious hidden dangers within the Party, the state, and the military, and the Party has become stronger and more powerful through revolutionary tempering. The Party's overall leadership and the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee have been significantly strengthened, the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism has achieved a new leap, the Party's organizational line for the new era has been implemented forcefully, the Eight-Point Regulation of the Central Committee has gained authority as an iron rule, Party discipline building has been solidly advanced, the fight against corruption has been unprecedented in intensity with visible results, the system of intra-Party laws and regulations has been further improved, and Party organizations at all levels have effectively fulfilled their responsibilities for governing and managing the Party. In the new era, full and rigorous self-governance of the Party has accumulated rich experience, opened up a new realm of self-revolution for the century-old major Party, further consolidated the Party's unity and unity, and highly coalesced the hearts of the Party, the military, and the people.
This sound political situation has not come easily. The whole Party must cherish it all the more and continuously consolidate and develop it. This requires us to adhere to and apply the valuable experience of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party in the new era, to persistently advance full and rigorous self-governance of the Party with higher standards and more concrete measures, to continuously enhance the Party's political leadership, ideological guidance, mass organization, and social appeal, and to ensure that the Party always enjoys the heartfelt support of the people and always remains the strong leading core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Third, this is an inevitable requirement for fulfilling the Party's historical mission and promoting the steady and long-term development of the cause of the Party and the state. Comprehensively advancing the building of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization is an unprecedented pioneering undertaking. Through the tenacious struggle of the whole Party and the people of all ethnic groups in the country since the 18th National Congress of the Party, the cause of the Party and the state has achieved historic accomplishments and undergone historic changes, and the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has entered an irreversible historical process. At the same time, changes in the world, changes in the times, and changes in history are unfolding in unprecedented ways, and the road ahead is fraught with multiple risks and challenges. From an international perspective, the changes unseen in a century are accelerating, a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is accelerating breakthroughs, the international balance of power is undergoing profound adjustment, the world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation, and uncertainties and unpredictable factors in the external environment are increasing. From a domestic perspective, after more than 40 years of reform and opening up, China's economic and social life has undergone tremendous changes, the problem of unbalanced and inadequate development remains prominent, and further comprehensively deepening reform, promoting high-quality development, strengthening social construction and governance, coordinating development and security, and stimulating and enhancing social vitality have encountered many new issues.
In handling China's affairs well, the key lies in the Party, and the key lies in full and rigorous self-governance of the Party. Faced with the complex and ever-changing international and domestic situation and the arduous and heavy tasks of reform, development, and stability, to promote the steady and long-term progress of Chinese modernization, we must vigorously carry forward the great founding spirit of the Party, always bear in mind the "three imperatives," continuously carry forward the Party's excellent qualities, persistently advance full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, build our Party better and stronger, and provide a strong guarantee for comprehensively building a great modern socialist country and comprehensively advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese modernization.
II. On the Drafting Process of the Decision
In January of this year, the Party Central Committee established the drafting group for the documents of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party, with me as the head, and Comrades Wang Huning, Cai Qi, and Li Xi as deputy heads. Leading comrades of the Party and the state concerned and responsible comrades of relevant central departments and localities participated, working under the leadership of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee. On February 6, the drafting group held its first plenary meeting, officially launching the drafting work.
In the drafting of the document, the following points were emphasized.
First, comprehensively implement the Party building thought for the new era. The Party building thought for the new era is the chapter on Party building in the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and the crystallization of the practical experience and collective wisdom of the Party and the people. The drafting of the Decision adhered to the guidance of the Party building thought for the new era, fully implemented the requirements of this thought in the framework arrangement of the document, the summary of achievements and experience, the analysis of the situation and tasks, the clarification of guiding ideology and principles, and the proposal of policies and measures, followed the laws of governing a Marxist ruling party, fully applied the valuable experience of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party in the new era, and strived to promote innovation in Party governance and management and Party revitalization and strengthening while upholding fundamental principles, and development through inheritance.
Second, serve the mission and tasks. Serving and obeying the development of the cause of the Party and the state has always been an important principle of Party building. The drafting of the Decision adhered to staying true to the Party's original aspiration and founding mission, focused on realizing the Party's mission and tasks on the new journey of the new era, paid attention to grasping the internal connection between Party governance and management, Party revitalization and strengthening, and the building of a strong country and national rejuvenation, and planned and proposed various policies and measures that are closely linked to the needs of the development of the cause of the Party and the state, ensuring that all arrangements for persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party revolve around the central task and serve the overall situation.
Third, adhere to the strict tone. The key to full and rigorous self-governance of the Party lies in strictness, and persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party must be consistent and strict to the end. The drafting of the Decision firmly grasped the requirements that the standards for all aspects of Party building work must be strict, that education, management, and supervision of Party organizations at all levels and Party members and cadres must be strict, that measures to rectify unhealthy work styles and corruption must be strict, and that the responsibility for governing and managing the Party must be strictly implemented, further deepened and improved various policies and measures for full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, and clearly released a strong signal that the stricter it gets, the stricter it will be. At the same time, it adhered to combining strict management with care and love, and attaching equal importance to incentives and constraints, so as to be strict and binding to the letter, while also stimulating the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of the whole Party.
Fourth, highlight the problem orientation. Full and rigorous self-governance of the Party is carried out in response to prominent problems within the Party, and persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party must continuously study new situations and solve new problems on the basis of consolidating existing achievements. The Decision grasped the key points and focused on prominent problems in its layout and planning. In formulating ideas and measures, it adhered to solving whatever problems exist and focusing on solving the most prominent problems, identifying the crux of the problems, conducting in-depth research and demonstration, and proposing targeted countermeasures.
Fifth, strengthen the systems concept. Persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party is a systematic project, and it is necessary to plan and advance the Party's political building, ideological building, organizational building, work style building, discipline building, institutional building, and the fight against corruption as an organic whole, and strive to improve the system for full and rigorous self-governance of the Party. The drafting of the Decision fully implemented the general requirements for Party building in the new era, adhered to taking the Party's political building as the guide, paid attention to the coordinated efforts of all aspects of Party building and the linkage and matching of various policies and measures, paid attention to leading by example from the top, combining points and areas, and addressing both symptoms and root causes, paid attention to forming a work pattern of vertical and horizontal linkage, coordination between departments and regions, and joint management, and effectively enhanced the overall effectiveness of Party governance and management.
In the drafting of the document, the Party Central Committee fully promoted democracy, conducted in-depth investigation and research, and extensively solicited opinions. On January 31, the Party Central Committee issued a notice soliciting opinions from all regions and departments on the agenda of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party. At the same time, it commissioned 16 units to conduct research on 23 key topics. On May 6, I presided over a symposium in Shanghai to hear the opinions of the principal responsible comrades of some provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government. On August 3, the draft of the Decision was distributed within a certain scope of the Party for solicitation of opinions, including soliciting opinions from some veteran comrades within the Party, and also specifically listened to the opinions of the leaders of the central committees of various democratic parties, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and representatives of non-Party personages.
All parties unanimously agreed that the Party Central Committee's decision for the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party to focus on studying the issue of persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party fully reflects our Party's high degree of sobriety and firm will to strengthen its own building. The draft of the Decision makes strategic arrangements for persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, and will surely become a programmatic document for advancing the great new project of Party building in the new era. It is of great practical significance and long-term guiding significance for further opening up a new situation in Party governance and management and Party revitalization and strengthening in the new era, and for uniting and leading the people of all ethnic groups in the country to comprehensively advance the building of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization. At the same time, all parties put forward many good opinions and suggestions, which the drafting group studied one by one and absorbed as much as possible.
During the drafting of the Decision, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee held 3 meetings and the Political Bureau of the Central Committee held 2 meetings for review and revision, forming the draft of the Decision submitted to this Plenary Session for deliberation.
III. On the Basic Framework and Main Content of the Decision
Apart from the opening remarks and concluding remarks, the draft of the Decision is divided into three major sections.
The first section is Part One, which is the general discussion. It elaborates on the importance, urgency, and general requirements of persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, with a total of 5 aspects of content. First, it reviews the glorious course over the past 100 years and more in which our Party has consistently strengthened Party building and united and led the people in continuously advancing from victory to victory. Second, it summarizes the great achievements of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party since the 18th National Congress of the Party and elaborates on the great significance of forming the Party building thought for the new era. Third, it analyzes the new situation, new tasks, and new challenges facing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party. Fourth, it puts forward the guiding ideology for persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party. Fifth, it clarifies the 7 principles to be followed in persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party.
The second section is the specific discussion, including Parts Two through Eight. It deploys the strategic tasks and major measures for persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party. Among them, Part Two, "Enhancing the Party Spirit of Communists," emphasizes that this is the fundamental task of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, and makes arrangements in 5 aspects: strengthening education on loyalty to the Party, adhering to using the Party's innovative theories to unite minds and souls, cultivating Party spirit with the Party's fine traditions and the excellent traditional Chinese culture, tempering Party spirit in practice, and strengthening the identification and appraisal of Party spirit. Part Three, "Strictly Implementing and Enforcing Democratic Centralism," emphasizes that this is an inherent requirement of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, and makes arrangements in 4 aspects: adhering to and strengthening the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, improving the quality of intra-Party democracy, strictly implementing the rules of deliberation and decision-making of leading bodies, and regulating the exercise of power and performance of duties by "top leaders." Part Four, "Forging a High-Caliber Cadre Force Capable of Shouldering the Task of National Rejuvenation," emphasizes that the key to full and rigorous self-governance of the Party lies in strict governance of officials, and makes arrangements in 6 aspects: adhering to the correct orientation for selecting and appointing personnel, selecting and appointing personnel accurately and scientifically, promoting cadres to establish and practice a correct view of political achievements, enhancing cadres' ability to work and start businesses, improving the quality of cultivating and selecting outstanding young cadres, and strengthening the management and supervision of cadres. Part Five, "Building a Tight Organizational System with Vertical and Horizontal Linkage and Strong Execution," emphasizes that Party organizations at all levels are the main bodies of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, and makes arrangements in 6 aspects: giving play to the exemplary role of Party organizations in central and state organs, strengthening the functions of local Party committees, coordinating the advancement of the building of grassroots Party organizations in all fields, highlighting the building of the Party in emerging fields, strengthening the building of the Party member contingent, and improving the mechanisms for linking Party organizations at all levels. Part Six, "Unremittingly Rectifying Work Styles and Enforcing Discipline," emphasizes that this is a powerful measure for full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, and makes arrangements in 5 aspects: following the Party's mass line in the new era, perseveringly implementing the spirit of the Eight-Point Regulation of the Central Committee, promoting the normalization and long-term effectiveness of work style building, strengthening strict discipline enforcement, and comprehensively giving play to the constraining and safeguarding, incentivizing roles of discipline education. Part Seven, "Unswervingly Advancing in an Integrated Manner the Efforts to Ensure That Officials Do Not Dare to, Are Unable to, and Do Not Want to Engage in Corruption," emphasizes that this is an important strategy for full and rigorous self-governance of the Party and the basic policy for the fight against corruption, and makes arrangements in 4 aspects: maintaining a high-pressure posture in punishing corruption, strengthening the restriction and supervision of the exercise of power, consolidating the ideological foundation for advocating integrity and rejecting corruption, and enhancing the comprehensive effectiveness of the integrated advancement of ensuring that officials do not dare to, are unable to, and do not want to engage in corruption. Part Eight, "Adhering to Governing the Party with Institutions and Regulations," emphasizes that strengthening the building of the system of intra-Party laws and regulations is a long-term and fundamental strategy for full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, and makes arrangements in 3 aspects: improving the system of intra-Party laws and regulations, enhancing the execution of institutions, and vigorously breaking down hidden rules.
The third section includes improving the Party and state supervision systems and implementing the political responsibility for full and rigorous self-governance of the Party. Arrangements are made separately for these two aspects.
Comrades, deliberating and adopting the Decision is the main task of this Plenary Session. Everyone should think carefully, discuss in depth, put forward constructive opinions and suggestions, and jointly make this Plenary Session a success and revise the draft of the Decision well.
※This is an explanation made by General Secretary Xi Jinping at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party on October 26, 2026.
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Continuously Opening Up New Prospects for the Party's Governance and Self-Governance, and for Rejuvenating and Strengthening the Party, in the New Era
Editorial Board of Qiushi
Only when the Party governs itself can it govern the Party well; only through strict Party self-governance can the Party be well governed. From October 26 to 29, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party was successfully convened. This plenary session was a very important meeting held at the significant juncture of the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and during the critical period of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The plenary session heard and discussed the work report delivered by General Secretary Xi Jinping on behalf of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, and deliberated and adopted the "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Persistently Advancing Full and Rigorous Self-Governance of the Party" (hereinafter referred to as the "Decision"). General Secretary Xi Jinping explained the "Decision (Draft)" to the plenary session (hereinafter referred to as the "Explanation") and delivered an important speech at the second plenary meeting of the session. The "Decision" adopted by the plenary session, adhering to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, thoroughly implementing Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building, summarizing the great achievements and valuable experience of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party in the new era, analyzing the situation and tasks facing Party building, and making strategic arrangements for persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party. The work report and important speech delivered by the General Secretary at the plenary session comprehensively summarized the major achievements in the cause of the Party and the state since the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee, profoundly answered a series of directional and fundamental major questions concerning persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, and pointed the way for studying, comprehending, and implementing the spirit of the plenary session. The successful convening of the plenary session has major practical significance and long-term guiding significance for further opening up new prospects for the Party's governance and self-governance, and for rejuvenating and strengthening the Party in the new era, and for uniting and leading the people of all ethnic groups across the country to comprehensively advance the building of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization.
Thoroughly studying, comprehending, and implementing the spirit of the plenary session is a major political task for the entire Party for the current period and a period to come. Party organizations at all levels and all Party members and cadres should unify their thinking and actions to the spirit of the plenary session, deeply study and thoroughly comprehend Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building, deeply study and thoroughly comprehend the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech and the deployment requirements of the "Decision," set off a wave of studying, publicizing, and implementing the spirit of the plenary session, effectively shoulder the political responsibility for full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, and continuously open up new prospects for the Party's governance and self-governance, and for rejuvenating and strengthening the Party in the new era.
Fully Understanding the Major Significance of Persistently Advancing Full and Rigorous Self-Governance of the Party
Party building bears on the future and destiny of the Party and on the success or failure of the cause of the Party and the state. The plenary session focused on studying the issue of persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party. This was a major decision made by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, grasping the historical orientation of the development of the cause of the Party and the state, focusing on the overall situation of Chinese modernization, assessing the situation, and making overall considerations, fully reflecting our Party's high degree of sobriety and firm will regarding strengthening its own building. In the "Explanation," General Secretary Xi Jinping used the "three inevitable requirements" to elucidate the strategic considerations of the Party Central Committee in determining the agenda of the plenary session, namely: persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party is an inevitable requirement for maintaining the Party's advanced nature and purity and consolidating its long-term governing position; it is an inevitable requirement for consolidating and developing the sound political situation of the Party's high degree of unity and solidarity and the high degree of cohesion of the hearts of Party members, the military, and the people; and it is an inevitable requirement for realizing the Party's historical mission and promoting the steady and long-term development of the cause of the Party and the state. These "three inevitable requirements" profoundly elucidate the major strategic significance of persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, reflect a profound grasp of the intrinsic connection between governing and managing the Party, rejuvenating and strengthening the Party, building a strong country, and national rejuvenation, and in sum, mean that to govern the country well, one must first govern the Party well; to govern the Party well, one must be strict; and only when the Party is strong can the country be strong.
Persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party should be understood more deeply in the context of our Party's great practice and achievements in governing and managing the Party over the past hundred years and more, especially in the new era. Strict governance and management of the Party is an important experience of our Party. Over 105 years of trials and tribulations, the reason our Party, despite experiencing vicissitudes, remains vigorous and flourishing, and despite enduring hardships, remains full of vitality, lies in its consistent adherence to the principle that the Party must govern itself and to full and rigorous self-governance of the Party. After the 18th National Congress of the Party, in the face of the severe reality of the weakening, hollowing out, and diluting of Party leadership, the lax, weak, and ineffective governance and management of the Party, and the shocking problems within the Party, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core unswervingly advanced full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, and a magnificent historical process of eliminating the impure and promoting the pure began. From curbing "waste on the tip of the tongue," stopping "corruption on the wheels," and rectifying the "unhealthy trends in clubs," to continuously rectifying formalism to reduce burdens at the grassroots level, the change in work style has swept across the land of China, and the people sincerely praise that "the Eight-Point Regulation changed China"; from the regulations on disciplinary action, the regulations on accountability, and the regulations on intra-Party supervision, to the establishment of the National Commission of Supervision and the improvement of the system of disciplinary inspection and supervision laws and regulations, the advancement of governing the Party with institutions and regulations has continued... The intensity, breadth, and depth of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party in the new era are unprecedented, forging a more confident, determined, strong, and powerful Communist Party of China. Looking at the world, no other political party has the political courage and historical responsibility of our Party, daring to make bold cuts, turn the blade inward, and carry out self-revolution. This sound political situation has not come easily, but governing and managing the Party is not a one-time effort; the achievements of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party in the new era are something to be proud of, but this does not mean that one can rest easy from now on. If we slacken our efforts, rest on our laurels, or grow weary and weary of fighting, leading to ineffective governance and lax management of the Party, the existing sound situation could also be shaken, or even all previous achievements could be lost. Only by forever maintaining the sobriety and determination of one who is taking an examination, and persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party with higher standards and more concrete measures, can we forever maintain the Party's advanced nature and purity and consolidate and develop the sound political situation formed through governing and managing the Party.
Persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party should also be understood more deeply in the context of the mission and tasks of comprehensively advancing the building of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization. The Party's leadership directly bears on the fundamental direction, future and destiny, and ultimate success or failure of Chinese modernization; behind "China's governance" lies "the governance of the Communist Party of China." The reason Chinese modernization has been able to achieve remarkable accomplishments lies in the key factor of consistently adhering to the Party's overall leadership and adhering to the principle that the Party must govern itself and to full and rigorous self-governance of the Party. The more effective the governance and management of the Party, the stronger the guarantee for economic and social development. At present, the 15th Five-Year Plan is getting off to a start, and the basic realization of socialist modernization has entered a critical period of consolidating the foundation and making comprehensive efforts. Looking at the world, the century-old changes are accelerating, the external environment is turbulent and unpredictable, geopolitical conflicts are intensifying, and uncertainty and instability have risen significantly. Looking at the domestic situation, the unique advantages supporting development are more prominent, but old problems and new challenges remain numerous, the problem of unbalanced and inadequate development remains prominent, and further comprehensively deepening reform, promoting high-quality development, strengthening social construction and governance, coordinating development and security, and stimulating and enhancing social vitality have encountered many new issues. The more ambitious the goal, the more complex the situation, and the more arduous the task, the more necessary it is to persistently advance full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, to build our Party better and stronger, to ensure that the Party always remains the strong leading core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics amid turbulent changes, and to provide a strong guarantee for building a strong country and achieving national rejuvenation.
Persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party should also be understood more deeply in the context of the new tasks and new challenges facing our Party's own building. At present, the mainstream of the Party's ranks is good, and full and rigorous self-governance of the Party has many favorable conditions, but it also faces many new situations and new problems. On the one hand, the size of the Party membership continues to grow and its structure is undergoing profound changes, with the proportion of Party members and cadres born after the reform and opening up becoming increasingly large, bringing new issues to Party member education, management, and supervision. On the other hand, there are still many problems and hidden dangers in the Party's ranks that weaken the Party's advanced nature, damage its purity, and affect its long-term governance; a small number of Party members and cadres have developed a mentality of fearing difficulties, lying flat, or even resisting and coping, and hold erroneous views on full and rigorous self-governance of the Party. In particular, it must be seen that the problems of impure thinking, impure organization, and impure work style have not been fundamentally solved, the root cause of the Four Malfeasances has not been eliminated and the soil still exists, the stock of corruption has not been cleared and new cases still occur, and the "four major tests" and "four dangers" are long-term, complex, and severe, posing major challenges to the Party's governing capacity, leadership level, quality of its ranks, and resistance to corruption and prevention of degeneration under the new situation. To forge iron, one must be strong oneself; the longer the Party governs, the longer the period of peace and prosperity, the more it must be strong itself. The strategic arrangements made by the plenary session send a strong signal that there is no pause button in governing and managing the Party and that full and rigorous self-governance of the Party is always on the way. Only by persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party and continuously eliminating the viruses that erode the Party's healthy body can we ensure that the Party never changes its nature, its color, or its flavor, and ensure that the red river and mountains are passed down from generation to generation.
Accurately Grasping the Deployment Requirements for Persistently Advancing Full and Rigorous Self-Governance of the Party
From the strategic height of consolidating the Party's long-term governing position and realizing the Party's mission and tasks, the "Decision" of the plenary session adheres to centering on the central task and serving the overall situation, adheres to a strict tone, highlights a problem-oriented approach, and strengthens a systematic perspective, making systematic arrangements for persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party. The three major sections of the "Decision" are interconnected, with the general introduction clarifying the direction, the specific sections deploying tasks, and the third section strengthening supervision and consolidating responsibility, forming a logically rigorous organic whole. Through a series of important viewpoints and major measures, the "Decision" deeply answers major questions such as how to advance, how to implement, and who should implement the persistent advancement of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, further deepening the understanding of the laws of building a Marxist governing party.
The "Decision" clarifies the guiding ideology for persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, which is: adhere to Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of the Three Represents, and the Scientific Outlook on Development; comprehensively implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era; deeply study and implement Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building; focus on realizing the Party's mission and tasks; implement the general requirements for Party building in the new era; take the Party Constitution as the fundamental; adhere to the Party's vanguard nature; adhere to the Party's overall leadership and the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee; focus on improving the Party's long-term governing capacity, maintaining the Party's advanced nature and purity, and maintaining the Party's flesh-and-blood ties with the people; adhere unwaveringly to a strict tone; improve the system for full and rigorous self-governance of the Party; take the Party's political construction as the guide; comprehensively advance all aspects of Party building; fully stimulate the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of the entire Party; continuously realize the Party's self-purification, self-improvement, self-renewal, and self-enhancement; continuously strengthen the Party's political leadership, ideological guidance, mass organization, and social appeal; ensure that the Party always remains a vibrant Marxist governing party that walks at the forefront of the times, is sincerely supported by the people, and can withstand various tests of wind and waves, and always remains the strong leading core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. This guiding ideology is rich in connotation and profound in thought, clarifying the theoretical guidance, basic ideas, and goals and requirements for our Party's persistent advancement of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, centrally embodying the scientific connotation and distinctive theoretical character of the Fourteen Commitments of Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building, and making top-level design and strategic planning for persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party. The "Decision" also puts forward the principles of the "seven adherences," namely: adhere to serving the mission and tasks; adhere to taking the Party's political construction as the guide; adhere to comprehensive strictness; adhere to a problem-oriented approach; adhere to upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground; adhere to leading by example from above; and adhere to governing the Party with regulations. These seven principles are interconnected and organically unified, being both epistemology and methodology, reflecting a profound grasp of the laws of Party building, being both a scientific summary of the experience of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party in the new era and an important guideline for persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party.
The "Decision" deploys strategic tasks and major measures for persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party from seven aspects. "Strengthening the Party spirit of Communists" is the fundamental task of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party; placing this item first indicates that governing and managing the Party must start from solving the fundamental problem of thought and forever maintain the political character. "Strictly implementing and enforcing democratic centralism" is an inherent requirement of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party; only by improving and implementing the various systems of democratic centralism, fully developing intra-Party democracy, and effectively implementing correct centralism can the political, organizational, institutional, and work advantages of the Party's fundamental organizational principle and leadership system be better brought into play. "Forging a high-quality cadre contingent capable of shouldering the heavy task of national rejuvenation" grasps the key of strictly managing officials in full and rigorous self-governance of the Party; it is necessary to strictly manage cadre education and training, selection and appointment, and management and supervision, and build a high-quality cadre contingent that is politically sound, highly capable, of excellent work style, and strictly disciplined. "Building a rigorous organizational system that is connected from top to bottom and effective in execution" focuses on building strong Party organizations at all levels, which are the mainstay of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party; only when Party organizations at all levels are sound and strong, forming a rigorous organizational system that is connected from top to bottom and effective in execution, can the Party's leadership be "like the body commanding the arms, and the arms commanding the fingers." "Unremittingly rectifying work style and enforcing discipline" is a powerful measure of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party; only by adhering to grasping Party spirit, Party conduct, and Party discipline together, integrating the rectification of work style, the enforcement of discipline, and the fight against corruption, continuously improving work style, and governing and managing the Party with strict discipline, can we unite hearts and gather strength with a good image. "Unswervingly advancing in an integrated manner the goal of not daring to be corrupt, not being able to be corrupt, and not wanting to be corrupt" is an important strategy for full and rigorous self-governance of the Party and the basic policy for the fight against corruption; only by treating not daring to be corrupt, not being able to be corrupt, and not wanting to be corrupt as an organic whole, connecting the internal links among the three, and adhering to strict punishment, precise governance, effective prevention, and integrated implementation, can the comprehensive effectiveness of corruption governance be enhanced. "Adhering to governing the Party with institutions and regulations" bears on the long-term and fundamental aspects of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party; it is necessary to adhere to taking the Party Constitution as the fundamental code of conduct for the entire Party, deepen the reform of the Party building system, promote the organic unity of law-based governance and regulation-based governance of the Party, and provide a strong institutional guarantee for persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party. These strategic tasks and major measures are intrinsically linked and mutually supportive, running through the Party's political construction, ideological construction, organizational construction, work style construction, discipline construction, institutional construction, and the fight against corruption, grasping the key issues of Party building under the new situation and reflecting the general requirements for Party building in the new era. If these tasks and measures are implemented to the letter, we will certainly be able to enhance the overall effectiveness of governing and managing the Party.
Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building is a main ideological thread running through the "Decision." As an important component of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building profoundly answers the major contemporary question of what kind of long-term governing Marxist party to build and how to build a long-term governing Marxist party, enriches and develops Marxist party-building theory, is a major achievement of promoting the Party's theoretical innovation by adhering to the Two Integrations, is the crystallization of the practical experience and collective wisdom of the Party and the people, and provides the fundamental guideline and action guide for deeply advancing the great new project of Party building in the new era. The most distinctive feature of the "Decision" is its comprehensive implementation of Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building, embodying and reflecting its scientific connotation, spiritual essence, and practical requirements in the document's framework, situation analysis, guiding ideology and principles, and strategic tasks and major measures. Only by studying and comprehending Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building well and thoroughly can we fully and accurately grasp the theme, context, and various deployments of the "Decision." Therefore, it is necessary to coordinate and integrate the study, comprehension, and implementation of the spirit of the plenary session with the in-depth study and implementation of Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building, deeply grasp the scientific system, rich connotation, and practical requirements of this thought, summarize and apply the valuable experience of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party in the new era, be adept at using the scientific standpoints, viewpoints, and methods running through this thought to answer the new situations and new problems facing Party building, and promote the governance and management of the Party and the rejuvenation and strengthening of the Party by upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, and by inheriting and developing.
Promoting the Implementation of the Spirit of the Plenary Session with Responsibility in Place
In governing and managing the Party, responsibility is the key. Persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party is the common political responsibility of the entire Party. Without clarifying responsibility, implementing responsibility, and pursuing accountability, no matter how good the goals and deployments are, they are only flowers in a mirror and the moon in water. Only by firmly grasping the "ox nose" of the responsibility system for governing and managing the Party, promoting Party organizations at all levels and the vast number of Party members and cadres to know their responsibilities, shoulder their responsibilities, and fulfill their responsibilities, and promoting the implementation of the spirit of the plenary session with responsibility in place, can a powerful momentum for governing and managing the Party and rejuvenating and strengthening the Party be formed.
Promoting the implementation of the spirit of the plenary session with responsibility in place presupposes studying and comprehending the spirit of the plenary session well. The spirit of the plenary session is rich in connotation and profound in thought; without making painstaking efforts, one cannot master it. It is necessary to integrate the study of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech at the plenary session, the communiqué of the plenary session, and the "Decision" with the study of Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building, connect it with comprehending the great achievements and valuable experience of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party in the new era, and combine it with comprehending the new situations, new tasks, and new challenges facing our Party on the new journey, deepening the understanding and grasp of the spirit of the plenary session in the combination of theory and practice, and enhancing the political, ideological, and action consciousness of implementation. It is necessary to combine the systematic and theoretical research and interpretation of Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building, organize forces to conduct in-depth research on the important ideological viewpoints put forward by the plenary session, form a batch of substantial and valuable research results, and provide theoretical support for the implementation of the spirit of the plenary session. It is necessary to strengthen public opinion guidance, strengthen the explanation and clarification of doubts regarding certain vague understandings about full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, resolutely clarify various erroneous viewpoints, clearly explain that full and rigorous self-governance of the Party guarantees and promotes rather than hinders economic and social development, clearly explain that full and rigorous self-governance of the Party cannot achieve success in one battle and that the fight against corruption must be unswerving, and guide Party members, cadres, and the masses to strengthen their confidence and resolve in full and rigorous self-governance of the Party and unswervingly listen to the Party and follow the Party.
Promoting the implementation of the spirit of the plenary session with responsibility in place requires, as the key, implementing the various deployments made by the plenary session. The major strategic deployments and the clear work ideas and measures made by the plenary session were all put forward by the Party Central Committee after full argumentation and repeated research, and must be implemented to the letter from the political height of the Two Upholds, and must never be altered or selectively implemented. At the same time, the situations in different regions, departments, and fields vary greatly; it is necessary to refine implementation measures in light of the actual conditions of the local region, department, and field, and transform the various deployment requirements of the plenary session into concrete plans that can be implemented, supervised, and inspected. It is necessary to place all work of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party in the overall situation of the development of the cause of the Party and the state for advancement and implementation, achieving the joint planning, joint deployment, and joint assessment of Party building work and central work, and testing the effectiveness of Party building with the actual results of promoting high-quality development. It is necessary to consolidate and expand the results of the study and education on establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements, combine it with the change of terms to do a good job in the training of newly appointed leading cadres on the view of political achievements, and educate and guide them to strive to make political achievements for the people and make political achievements through practical work. It is necessary to adhere to a problem-oriented approach, carefully identify and itemize the shortcomings and weaknesses in strengthening Party spirit, implementing and enforcing democratic centralism, the selection, education, management, and use of cadres, Party organization building, rectifying work style and enforcing discipline, the fight against corruption, and the building of the intra-Party laws and regulations system, clarify which are common problems, which are specific risks, which are deep-rooted problems, which are new contradictions and new problems, which are surface problems, and which are fundamental problems, identify the cause of the disease, prescribe the right medicine, and achieve "one key for one lock."
Promoting the implementation of the spirit of the plenary session with responsibility in place also requires improving the responsibility system in which each bears his own responsibility and all coordinate in a unified manner, and giving play to the enthusiasm of both organizations and individuals. Party organizations at all levels should strengthen their sense of responsibility for daring to govern and manage and strictly governing and managing; Party committees (Party groups) should implement the primary responsibility, take the initiative to grasp and manage with care, tighten the chain of responsibility, and transmit pressure layer by layer; discipline inspection commissions (dispatched discipline inspection and supervision groups) should fulfill their supervisory responsibility; all departments of the Party committee should perform their duties and jointly manage. The vast number of Party members and cadres should enhance their ideological and action consciousness of shouldering responsibility on themselves and fulfilling responsibility through action; secretaries of Party committees (Party groups) should fulfill the responsibility of the first person in charge; other members of the leading group should fulfill the "dual responsibilities for one post"; leading cadres, especially senior cadres, should be strict with themselves, strictly bear their own responsibilities, and strictly manage what is under their jurisdiction; ordinary Party members and cadres should implement specific responsibilities in light of their post characteristics and actual work. It is necessary to optimize the assessment mechanism for responsibility implementation, and seriously pursue accountability and investigate responsibility for ineffective governance and management of the Party and for serious problems.
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Advancing the Study, Publicity, and Implementation of Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building to Greater Depth and Breadth
Qiushi Commentator
To govern the country well, the Party must first be governed well; to govern the Party, rigor is essential; only when the Party is strong can the country be strong. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party was a very important meeting convened at a critical juncture in basically realizing socialist modernization. The "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Persistently Advancing Full and Rigorous Self-Governance of the Party" (hereinafter referred to as the "Decision") reviewed and adopted at the Plenary Session made strategic arrangements for persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party. It is a programmatic document for advancing the great new project of Party building in the new era, fully reflecting the historical initiative of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core to strengthen the Party and the country. The most distinctive feature of the Decision is its comprehensive implementation of Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building, running through it as a main thread from beginning to end. Whether in summarizing achievements and experience, analyzing the situation and tasks, or clarifying guiding ideology and principles and putting forward policies and measures, all fully embody the requirements of this Thought, promoting the governance and rigorous self-governance of the Party and the revitalization and strengthening of the Party to innovate while upholding fundamental principles and to develop while carrying forward the legacy. Studying and implementing well the spirit of the Plenary Session is a major political task for the entire Party at present and for a period to come. The study and implementation of the spirit of the Plenary Session should be coordinated and integrated with the in-depth study and implementation of Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building, continuously advancing the study, publicity, and implementation of Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building to greater depth and breadth.
Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building centrally reflects the achievements of theoretical innovation, practical innovation, and institutional innovation in Party building in the new era, and has major practical significance and long-term guiding significance for strengthening the Party and the country. As the chapter on Party building of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building systematically answers the major questions of the times of what kind of long-term governing Marxist party to build and how to build a long-term governing Marxist party, profoundly elucidates a series of directional and fundamental questions such as how to handle and how to carry out full and rigorous self-governance of the Party in the new era, makes major original and pioneering contributions to the development of the Marxist theory of Party building, and provides fundamental guidance and a guide to action for deeply advancing the great new project of Party building in the new era. The great achievements of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party in the new era are fundamentally attributable to the helm-steering and navigation of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, and to the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, especially Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building; on the new journey, to continuously open up new prospects for governing and rigorously self-governing the Party and revitalizing and strengthening the Party, it is equally necessary to rely on further unleashing the power of truth and practical force of Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building.
To advance the study, publicity, and implementation of Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building to greater depth and breadth, first of all, it is necessary to unify thoughts and actions with the spirit of the Plenary Session and the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee, and promptly set off an upsurge in studying, publicizing, and implementing the spirit of the Plenary Session. It is necessary to combine in-depth study and understanding of the important speech delivered by General Secretary Xi Jinping at the Plenary Session with the spirit of the Decision, guide Party members and cadres to deeply understand the strategic considerations of the Party Central Committee in persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, deeply understand the new situation, new tasks, and new challenges facing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, especially the major judgments of the "three even more arduous tasks" and the "four major challenges," deeply understand the guiding ideology and the principles of the "seven upholdings" for persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, and enhance the consciousness and firmness in implementing them. It is necessary to connect with the great achievements in governing and rigorously self-governing the Party and revitalizing and strengthening the Party in the new era, and the brand-new prospects created by the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, combine with the prominent problems solved and the valuable experience explored in Party building in the new era, deepen the understanding of the guiding significance and practical force of Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building, further deeply comprehend the decisive significance of the Two Establishments (两个确立) and resolutely achieve the Two Upholds (两个维护). It is necessary to combine the important viewpoints and major assertions put forward by the Plenary Session, deepen the systematic and theoretical research and interpretation of Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building, deeply interpret the principled achievements, original contributions, scientific system, rich connotations, spiritual essence, and practical requirements of this Thought, and, from the combination of theory and practice, explain clearly and thoroughly such questions as why the Communist Party of China is capable, why it is necessary to persistently advance full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, and how to persistently advance full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, so as to better use Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building to dispel doubts and resolve confusion, thereby guiding the broad masses of Party members, cadres, and the people to more firmly support the Party and support full and rigorous self-governance of the Party.
One part deployment, nine parts implementation. The key to advancing the study, publicity, and implementation of Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building to greater depth and breadth lies in promoting the implementation of the various strategic tasks and major measures arranged by the Plenary Session. The Plenary Session made systematic arrangements for persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party in such aspects as enhancing the Party spirit of Communists, strictly implementing democratic centralism, forging a high-caliber cadre contingent capable of shouldering the heavy task of national rejuvenation, building a rigorous organizational system that is connected from top to bottom and effective in execution, persistent and unremitting effort (驰而不息, chi er bu xi - "gallop, not stop") in rectifying conduct and enforcing discipline, unswervingly advancing in an integrated manner the deterrence of bribery, prevention of bribery, and elimination of bribery, and adhering to governing the Party with institutions and regulations. These arrangements fully implement the general requirements for Party building in the new era, plan and advance the Party's political building, ideological building, organizational building, conduct building, discipline building, institutional building, and the fight against corruption as an organic whole, emphasize the coordinated efforts of all aspects of Party building and the articulation and matching of various policies and measures, connect self-discipline and heteronomy, and balance addressing symptoms and root causes, delivering a set of interlocking, systematically integrated combined measures for governing and rigorously self-governing the Party and revitalizing and strengthening the Party. With regard to these major arrangements and measures, it is necessary not only to deeply understand and accurately grasp their connotations and requirements, achieving both understanding of their meaning and their rationale, knowing both what they are and why they are so, but also to unswervingly act as executors, doers, and practitioners, organize implementation meticulously with higher standards and more practical measures, clarify the construction drawings and timetables, and enhance the overall effectiveness of implementation.
Problems are the voice of the times. To advance the study, publicity, and implementation of Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building to greater depth and breadth, it is necessary to continuously study and solve the prominent problems facing Party building. The Decision seizes the key and crucial points in its overall planning, and the various policies and measures focus on prominent problems within the Party, reflecting the enormous political courage to face contradictions and problems directly. Implementing the spirit of the Plenary Session and persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party also requires proceeding toward problems, solving whatever problems exist, and focusing on solving whichever problems are most prominent. At present, the mainstream of the Party's ranks is good, but there are still quite a few problems and hidden dangers that weaken the Party's advanced nature, damage the Party's purity, and affect the Party's long-term governance. In particular, the problems of impure ideology, impure organization, and impure conduct have not been fundamentally solved, and some new problems are constantly emerging. It is necessary to compare with the requirements of the Decision, conduct in-depth investigation and examination of the prominent problems existing in Party building in one's own region, department, and field, make efforts in identifying the crux and applying targeted treatment, show real results in taking decisive and practical action to tackle problems (动真碰硬, dong zhen peng ying - "move truth, hit hardness") and seeking practical results, prevent being overly general and sidestepping important issues to focus on trivial matters (避重就轻, bi zhong jiu qing - "avoid heavy, take light"), and promote continuous new progress in full and rigorous self-governance of the Party with the practical results of solving problems.
Advancing the study, publicity, and implementation of Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building to greater depth and breadth must ultimately be reflected in fulfilling the political responsibility for governing and rigorously self-governing the Party. Without clarifying responsibility, without implementing responsibility, and without holding responsibility accountable, full and rigorous self-governance of the Party cannot be achieved. It is necessary to firmly grasp the "ox nose" of the responsibility system for governing and rigorously self-governing the Party, press and tighten the primary responsibility of Party committees (Party groups), the supervisory responsibility of discipline inspection commissions, the responsibility of the first responsible person of Party committees (Party groups) secretaries, the "one post with dual responsibilities" of other members of leading bodies, and the specific responsibilities of Party members and cadres, and improve the responsibility system in which each bears their own responsibility and coordinates in unity. Party organizations at all levels must proactively grasp and diligently manage, fasten the chain of responsibility and transmit pressure layer by layer, and seriously pursue accountability and question responsibility for those who govern and rigorously self-govern the Party ineffectively or where serious problems occur. Supervision occupies an important position in governing and rigorously self-governing the Party and is an important guarantee for promoting the implementation of responsibility. It is necessary to further improve the Party and state supervision systems, weave a tight and dense net of supervision, so that every Party organization and every Party member and cadre feels that responsibility is always present and supervision is always present, and use the pressure of supervision to force the layer-by-layer implementation of responsibility for governing and rigorously self-governing the Party.
Return to TopBy: 张忠军
Making the Strengthening of Party Spirit Cultivation a Lifelong Subject
Zhang Zhongjun
It is often said that Party members should have the look of Party members. Where does the good look of Party members come from? Ultimately, it comes from the Party spirit of every Party member. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "What determines how a person behaves is their character; what determines how a Party member behaves is their Party spirit." The "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Persisting in and Advancing Full and Rigorous Self-Governance of the Party," reviewed and adopted at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party, places "strengthening the Party spirit of Communists" in the first part of its strategic tasks and major measure deployments, proposing that strengthening Party spirit is the fundamental task of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, and putting forward clear requirements for the broad ranks of Party members and cadres to temper strong Party spirit. The broad ranks of Party members and cadres should consciously grasp the important significance, scientific connotation, and practical requirements of tempering strong Party spirit, uphold the nature and purpose of the Party, strengthen Party consciousness, Party member consciousness, and vanguard consciousness, make the strengthening of Party spirit cultivation a lifelong subject, and continuously transform strong Party spirit into a powerful force for governing and managing the Party, revitalizing and strengthening the Party, and advancing Chinese modernization.
I
The Communist Party of China not only upholds the original aspiration and founding mission of seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation, but also always embraces the world with a global vision, seeking progress for humanity and harmony for the world. Joining the Communist Party of China means that Party members make a solemn political commitment to the Party organization, voluntarily accept the constraints of the Party Constitution and Party regulations, identify with the Party's political propositions, actively fulfill their obligations, conscientiously exercise their rights, and are determined to dedicate themselves to the Party's mission and responsibility. For Party members and cadres, Party spirit is centrally embodied in the conscious identification with and steadfast practice of the Party's essential attributes such as its original aspiration and founding mission, ideals and convictions, positions and purposes, and discipline and work style. It is the fundamental trait and distinctive character of Party members and cadres. The Party spirit of Chinese Communists not only concerns the politics, thought, conduct, and realm of individual Party members, but also has important significance for Party building, directly relating to the Party's survival and development, and affecting the Party's overall leadership and long-term governance position.
From the perspective of the essential requirements of a Marxist political party, tempering strong Party spirit is an important guarantee for the Party to consolidate its foundation, cultivate its roots, and forever maintain its political character. The advanced nature and purity of the Communist Party of China are manifested not only in the political leadership, ideological guidance, mass organization, and social appeal that the Party possesses as a whole, not only in the Party's theories, lines, principles, and policies, not only in the Party's ability and level in governing the country and managing the Party, but also in the exemplary and vanguard role played by every Party member. The advanced nature of the Party is not something that can be done once and for all, nor is it unchanging and static; being advanced in the past does not mean being advanced in the present, and being advanced in the present does not mean being advanced forever. Our Party has long been in a governing position, and Party members and cadres are prone to developing a mentality of long periods of peace and stability and spiritual slackening, breeding various problems such as impure thinking, impure organization, and impure work style. Some are disloyal and dishonest to the Party, being hypocritical or inconsistent, acting obediently in public while secretly defying orders, playing the double-dealer and being two-faced; some have impure motives for joining the Party, treating Party membership as capital for personal career advancement and as a pass to higher positions; some are adept at self-design, placing personal interests above the interests of the Party and the people, using the Party's status and prestige to seek personal gain; some are improper in self-cultivation, lax in self-discipline, degenerate and corrupt, sliding into the abyss of violating laws and discipline and engaging in corruption. Therefore, maintaining the Party's advanced nature and purity is always an ongoing process, and there must be no mood of relaxing or resting. Tempering strong Party spirit means requiring every Party member to regularly examine themselves against the Party Constitution and Party regulations, against the original aspiration and founding mission, promptly correcting deviations in understanding, preventing gaps in action, and continuously raising the political realm, ideological realm, and moral realm, ensuring that the Party never changes its nature, never changes its color, and never changes its flavor.
From the perspective of the Party's centralized and unified leadership, tempering strong Party spirit is the fundamental guarantee for the whole Party to unify thinking, unify will, and unify action. Our Party has more than 100 million Party members and more than 5.4 million primary-level Party organizations, and bears the historic responsibility of leading a large country with a population of more than 1.4 billion in advancing Chinese modernization. The whole Party must be highly unified. The unity and solidarity of the Party is first of all political unity and solidarity, which must be built on the foundation of the principle of Party spirit. Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out: "Consistent action, consistent opinion, and collectivism are Party spirit." General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "We must always think with one mind and act with one force in the face of major issues and severe situations, achieving cohesion and unity of purpose, ensuring that the whole Party is closely united around the Party Central Committee and advances in step." To maintain the unity and solidarity of the Party, the most important thing is to safeguard the authority of the Party Central Committee and its centralized and unified leadership. This is a matter of direction and principle, a matter of Party spirit, a matter of the overall situation. We must deeply understand the decisive significance of the Two Establishments and resolutely achieve the Two Upholds. Through the great practice of full and rigorous self-governance of the Party since the new era, the Party has become stronger and more powerful through revolutionary tempering, but problems that harm the unity and solidarity of the Party still objectively exist. Some do not implement or arbitrarily implement the major decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee, shouting empty slogans while saying one thing and doing another; some act willfully, even issuing orders without implementation and prohibitions without compliance; some form cliques and factions, forming interest groups and excluding those who differ from them; some engage in departmentalism, sacrificing the overall situation for the sake of the partial and sacrificing the long term for the sake of the immediate; and so on. These situations violate Party spirit and seriously harm the Party's cause and the Party's image. For this reason, the whole Party needs to further clear up confusion and return to the original essence politically, continuously advance the great new project of Party building in the new era, and forge the Party into a piece of hard steel that is invincible in battle and undefeated in battle.
From the perspective of the situation and tasks faced, tempering strong Party spirit is the inherent requirement for Party members and cadres to respond to risks and tests and to shoulder the heavy responsibilities of the era. At present, the once-in-a-century transformation of the world is accelerating, the international balance of power is undergoing profound changes, and China's development has entered a critical period of consolidating the foundation and fully exerting effort for basically realizing socialist modernization. On the road forward, we will inevitably face major tests of fierce winds and high waves, and even terrifying waves. More than ever before, we need all Party members to strengthen their sense of mission and will to struggle, enhance their political sense of responsibility and historical sense of mission, take the Party's original aspiration as their own heart and the Party's mission as their own life, fully play their exemplary and vanguard role, and contribute all their wisdom and strength to realizing the Party's mission and tasks. The overall condition of the Party member and cadre contingent is good, but it must also be recognized that compared with the requirements of the Party's mission and tasks on the new journey, there are still problems of non-conformity and inadaptability. Some have thoughts and actions that deviate from the Party's ideals and convictions, lacking in spirit and energy for undertaking work and starting businesses; some deviate from the fundamental purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly, being divorced from reality and from the masses; some crave comfort and enjoyment and are unwilling to engage in hard struggle; some have deviations in their views on power, views on political achievements, and views on career, being unwilling to take responsibility, daring not to take responsibility, unable to take responsibility, and even abusing power and acting arbitrarily; and so on. Only by continuously tempering strong Party spirit can all Party members stand firm in their positions and shoulder their missions in the face of various risks and tests.
II
The Party spirit of Chinese Communists is not only the concentrated embodiment of the worldview and political stance of a Marxist political party, but also the concentrated embodiment of the excellent qualities of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party emphasized that strengthening Party spirit cultivation should make efforts in firmly establishing ideals and convictions, forging loyalty to the Party, cultivating deep feelings for the people, adhering to seeking truth from facts, purifying moral character, and maintaining integrity and honesty, clarifying the key points and focal points of tempering strong Party spirit.
The fundamental issue of Party spirit is the issue of worldview. Speaking of Party spirit requires firmly believing in Marxism, and moreover, believing in it for a lifetime and guarding it for a lifetime. A Marxist political party is not a party formed by interests, but a party organized by common ideals and convictions. Faith in Marxism and conviction in socialism and communism are the spiritual pillars with which Communists can withstand any test, and the foundation on which Communists establish themselves and live. Only with firm ideals and convictions can one take a clear-cut stand on major issues of right and wrong, be fearless in the face of tests of wind and waves, stand firm in the face of various temptations, and be reliable, trustworthy, and reassuring at critical moments. Our Party not only firmly establishes the lofty ideal of communism, but also bases itself on the goals of the current stage of struggle, advancing the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics in a down-to-earth manner. Tempering strong Party spirit means unifying the firm establishment of the lofty ideal of communism with the practice of the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics, unifying it with what we are doing now, achieving devotion and persistence, and utmost faith and profound depth.
Loyalty to the Party is the most basic requirement of Party spirit. Speaking of Party spirit requires being loyal to the Party and resolutely safeguarding the unity and solidarity of the Party. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "All political problems within the Party, in the final analysis, come down to whether one is loyal to the Party." Loyalty to the Party centrally embodies the Party member's political identification, value identification, institutional identification, cultural identification, and emotional identification with the Party organization, meaning that every Party member should consciously adhere to loving the Party while in the Party, speaking for the Party while in the Party, worrying about the Party while in the Party, and working for the Party while in the Party. Loyalty to the Party includes loyalty to the Party's political requirements, loyalty to the Party's faith, loyalty to the Party's organization, loyalty to the Party's positions and purposes, and loyalty to the Party's cause. What must be particularly emphasized is that cadres are all cadres of the Party, and personal dependency relationships cannot be established within the Party.
Party spirit, in the final analysis, is a matter of position, and it is necessary to adhere to the organic unity of Party spirit and the people's character. For a period of time, on the issue of the relationship between Party spirit and the people's character, various vague understandings and erroneous viewpoints have emerged, and some have even put forward specious and confusing statements. For example, some ask, "Do you speak for the Party or for the common people?" and "Do you stand on the side of the Party or on the side of the masses?" In the view of these people, the Party is the Party, and the masses are the masses, which in effect separates and opposes the Party and the people, Party spirit and the people's character. In fact, Party spirit and the people's character have always been consistent and unified. Our Party takes serving the people wholeheartedly as its fundamental purpose and has no special interests of its own. Expressing the Party's will is expressing the people's will, propagating the Party's propositions is propagating the people's propositions, and adhering to Party spirit is adhering to the people's character. Tempering strong Party spirit requires adhering to the historical materialist viewpoint that the masses of the people are the creators of history, strengthening the consciousness of purpose, adhering to the people-centered development thinking, and taking benefiting the people as the greatest political achievement.
Seeking truth from facts is the greatest Party spirit. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Adhering to proceeding from reality and seeking truth from facts is not only a matter of thinking methods, but also a matter of whether Party spirit is strong or not." For Chinese Communists to understand and transform the world, they must adhere to proceeding from reality in everything, carry forward the work style of seeking truth and being pragmatic, doing solid work and seeking practical results. This is not only the essence of Marxism, but also the basic thinking method, working method, and leadership method of our Party. Whether a Party member seeks truth from facts can be seen from many aspects, but the most fundamental is whether they speak truthfully and honestly, and whether they do solid work and seek practical results. Being honest in conduct is not being foolish, and being steady in work will not suffer losses. If one is dishonest in conduct and slippery in work, one will develop a mind of taking shortcuts, and in the end, one will be too clever for one's own good. To adhere to seeking truth from facts, one must always establish oneself and do things with Party spirit, making speaking honest words, doing honest things, and being an honest person an important part of Party spirit cultivation and tempering, daring to uphold truth, being good at independent thinking, and achieving openness and frankness, fairness and uprightness.
Party spirit is the greatest virtue. When cadres have problems, they mainly occur in "virtue" and in weak Party spirit. The masses evaluate: "Those with both virtue and talent are genuine products, those with virtue but without talent are defective products, those without virtue and without talent are waste products, and those without virtue but with talent are poisonous products." Communists pursue great public interest, uphold great righteousness, and seek great selflessness, advocating the great virtue of loyalty to the Party, advocating the public virtue of benefiting the people, and advocating the moral character of strict self-discipline. The two characters "public" and "private" are the fundamental yardstick for measuring the strength of Party spirit. When faced with a matter, whether one acts out of public interest and adheres to principles, or seeks personal gain and indulges personal feelings, can directly test the quality of Party spirit. Only by being single-minded in serving the public and doing everything out of public interest can one be magnanimous in conduct and prudent in the use of power, can one be open and aboveboard, upright and honorable, and can one become "a noble-minded person, a pure person, a moral person, a person who has departed from low interests, and a person who is beneficial to the people."
Integrity and honesty are the foundation of a Communist's standing, and moreover, they are a background color that cannot be discarded. Integrity emphasizes self-awareness, values persistence, and is difficult to achieve thoroughly. The greatest temptation for a person's ability to be clean and self-disciplined is oneself, and the most difficult enemy to defeat is also oneself. If a person cannot defeat oneself, no matter how meticulous the institutional design, "the more numerous the laws and decrees, the more thieves and robbers there will be." Tempering strong Party spirit requires revering the people, revering the organization, and revering laws and discipline, forever maintaining the caution of being as if standing on the edge of an abyss and as if treading on thin ice, frequently dusting off "ideological dust," constantly reflecting on the "harm of greed," and always breaking the "thief in the heart," ensuring that no reckless action on the outside is guaranteed by no reckless thought on the inside, being clean and honest in conduct and doing things purely and cleanly.
III
Strong Party spirit originates from steadfastness and is perfected through tempering. The Party spirit consciousness and political awareness of Party members are not innate, but are formed and developed in later social life and under the influence of Party education. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Leading cadres should take tempering Party spirit and raising ideological awareness as a lifelong subject, learning until old age, studying until old age, and cultivating until old age." Party members and cadres should, in accordance with the deployment requirements of the Fifth Plenary Session, continuously deepen ideological understanding, consciously accept the education of Party organizations and supervision from all sides, and persistently strengthen Party spirit tempering and comprehensively improve Party spirit cultivation.
Forge the true character of Party spirit in strengthening loyalty-to-the-Party education.
Political cultivation is the core of Party spirit cultivation and is the fundamental cultivation. Party members and cadres should place loyalty to the Party in a prominent position in Party spirit cultivation, deeply understand the decisive significance of the Two Establishments, strengthen the Four Consciousnesses, firm up the Four Confidences, and achieve the Two Upholds. Continuously improve political judgment, political understanding, and political execution, always be a clear-minded and honest person politically, and effectively achieve resolute response to what the Party Central Committee advocates, resolute implementation of what the Party Central Committee decides, and resolute non-action on what the Party Central Committee prohibits, implementing the spirit of the Party Central Committee both without discount and with creativity, so that the various decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee take root, sprout, blossom, and bear fruit. Strictly abide by political discipline and political rules, always keep the string of clearly speaking politics taut, maintain particularly clear-headed thinking and particularly firm positions on major issues of right and wrong and on issues of political principle, never engage in the "seven have-somes," and resolutely oppose liberalism in thought, opportunism in politics, sectarianism in organization, departmentalism in work, and goody-goodism in fulfilling responsibilities. At the same time, in selecting and appointing personnel, Party spirit identification should be strengthened, attention should be paid to examining cadres' realm and pattern, loyalty and integrity, and cadres who are loyal to the Party, consistent in word and deed, responsible and dedicated, with outstanding achievements, and clean and honest should be selected and put to use.
Draw Party spirit nourishment from the Party's innovative theories.
Strength in Party spirit cannot be separated from sobriety and firmness in theory. Strong Party spirit is a faithful pursuit rooted in the hearts of Party members, requiring not only simple feelings but also rational consciousness. The tempering of strong Party spirit should be built on a high degree of identification with the Party's ideals and convictions, positions and purposes, work style and discipline, on a deep understanding of scientific truth, on a profound grasp of the laws of Communist Party governance, the laws of socialist construction, and the laws of human social development, and on the lofty value pursuit of unremitting struggle for the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the people. The foundation of tempering strong Party spirit lies in strengthening theoretical thinking and improving theoretical literacy. It is necessary to continuously study Marxist theory in light of reality, study developing Marxism, and continuously internalize it into one's own worldview and methodology. Without the support of Marxist scientific theory, when faced with complex practical problems, one will often waver in ideals and convictions due to confusion, and then lose Party spirit. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era continuously explores and answers the new questions raised by the development of the times. It is the Marxism of contemporary China and the Marxism of the 21st century, full of firm faith in Marxism, firm conviction in socialism and communism, and incomparable loyalty to the Communist Party of China, the Chinese people, and the Chinese nation, manifesting the lofty political mission and noble political pursuit of Chinese Communists. It is necessary to consciously regard Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the best textbook and nutrient for tempering Party spirit, and in deep study, careful reflection, and earnest practice, consolidate the soul and forge the spirit, refining an "indestructible body."
Use the Party's fine traditions and the excellent traditional Chinese culture to nourish Party spirit.
In a certain sense, the process of strengthening Party spirit cultivation is also a process of advocating virtue, rectifying the mind, and cultivating oneself. It is necessary to carry forward the spiritual pedigree of Chinese Communists with the great founding spirit of the Party as its source, consciously use the red gene to cultivate the roots and forge the soul, and continue the spiritual bloodline of Communists. The fine traditions formed by our Party in long-term practice, such as loyalty to the Party, integrating theory with practice, maintaining close ties with the masses, criticism and self-criticism, daring to struggle and being good at struggle, as well as hard struggle and seeking truth from facts, are important heirlooms for our Party to establish itself and live, and are precious spiritual sources for Party members and cadres to temper Party spirit. It is necessary to consciously draw wisdom and nourishment from the excellent traditional Chinese culture for rectifying the mind and clarifying virtue, deepen political virtue education, and use traditional virtues to moisten the heart and cultivate nature. For example, cultivate feelings for the people from the ideal pursuit of "when the great Way prevails, the world is shared by all," calibrate the yardstick of public and private from the value criteria of "seeing benefit and thinking of righteousness" and "putting righteousness before benefit," adhere to self-examination from the self-reflection and self-discipline of "I examine myself three times daily" and "being cautious when alone and cautious in small matters," abide by the requirement of setting an example from the ancient governance maxim "if the ruler himself is upright, orders will be carried out without being issued," and continuously thicken the foundation of Party spirit in the continuation of the torch and the infiltration of culture.
Strengthen Party spirit tempering in practical exercise.
Doing solid work best tests and tempers Party spirit. Only by actively devoting oneself to the practice of Chinese modernization, experiencing wind and rain, seeing the world, and undergoing extraordinary inner torment and will tempering in the face of various setbacks, temptations, dangers, risks, and challenges, and against the background of various changing situations, social transformations, and diverse and changing thoughts, can one be as firm as a rock and indestructible, and can one truly internalize conviction in the heart and externalize it in action. To temper strong Party spirit, it is necessary to establish and practice a correct view of political achievements, adhere to the primacy of practical work, actively devote oneself to the main battlefield of reform and development, the forefront of major struggles, and the front line of urgent, difficult, dangerous, and heavy tasks, frequently taking "hot potatoes" and often being "ants on a hot pan," accumulating useful experience of "how to do it" in gnawing hard bones, and through real and tangible combat, consolidate the confidence for taking responsibility and acting, and enhance the ability to do things and accomplish things. Daring to accomplish things and being good at taking responsibility also means speaking of Party spirit without speaking of personal feelings, speaking of truth without speaking of face, speaking of the rule of law and rules without speaking of willfulness and arbitrariness, having real skills and daring to tackle hard problems. Give play to the role of intra-Party political life as the "great furnace" for tempering Party spirit, conscientiously implement the systems of democratic centralism, the "three meetings and one lesson," democratic life meetings, leading cadres' dual organizational life, democratic evaluation of Party members, heart-to-heart talks, Party Day activities, and warning education, conscientiously carry out Party spirit analysis, be good at using the weapon of self-criticism, strive to solve problems from the ideological root, achieve loyalty, integrity, and responsibility, and always maintain the political character of Communists.
Author: Vice President (Vice Dean) of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee (National Academy of Governance)
Return to TopBy: 王懂棋
Making Greater Efforts to Advance the Integrated Approach of Ensuring That Officials Do Not Dare to Be Corrupt, Cannot Be Corrupt, and Do Not Want to Be Corrupt
Wang Dongqi
"Those who must be expelled from the Party must be washed out without mercy, and must not be allowed to remain in the Party, lest they corrupt the Party and undermine its prestige among the masses..." One hundred years ago, just as the flames of the Great Revolution were spreading across the land north and south of the Yangtze River, the Communist Party of China issued the first document in the Party's history on punishing corruption, the "Notice of the Enlarged Meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China — Resolutely Cleanse Out Corrupt and Degenerate Elements," which, like a sharp blade, resolutely struck at the "speculative and corrupt bad elements" who had sneaked into the Party. Opposing corruption, building clean politics, and maintaining the health of the Party's body have always been the clear political stance consistently upheld by our Party. Our Party has no special interests of its own beyond the interests of the working class and the broadest masses of the people; the Party and corruption are irreconcilable. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party reviewed and approved the "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Persistently Advancing Full and Rigorous Self-Governance of the Party," which emphasized that advancing the integrated approach of ensuring that officials do not dare to be corrupt, cannot be corrupt, and do not want to be corrupt is an important strategy for full and rigorous self-governance of the Party and the basic policy for the fight against corruption, and made arrangements in areas including maintaining a high-pressure posture in punishing corruption, strengthening the restriction and supervision of the exercise of power, consolidating the ideological foundation for upholding integrity and rejecting corruption, and enhancing the comprehensive effectiveness of the integrated advancement of ensuring that officials do not dare to be corrupt, cannot be corrupt, and do not want to be corrupt. We must maintain strategic resolve, firmly follow the path of fighting corruption with Chinese characteristics, strengthen the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee over anti-corruption work, pay greater attention to addressing both symptoms and root causes (标本兼治, biaoben jianzhi - "standard, remedy") and systematic governance, adhere to strict punishment, precise governance, effective prevention, and integrated implementation, and carry the fight against corruption through to the end.
The fight against corruption is a systematic project; piecemeal efforts and treating only the symptoms will find it difficult to solve the problem at its root. As early as when he worked in Zhejiang, Comrade Xi Jinping deeply pondered the targeted governance of corruption with a systematic approach, proposing to "continuously strengthen the institutional construction of 'cannot do,' the punishment and warning of 'dare not do,' and the quality education of 'do not want to do,'" and pointing out that "a system that combines punishment and prevention must be built; pre-education is very important, so that people are unwilling to be corrupt; post-handling is also very important, so that people dare not be corrupt; whole-process supervision is even more important, so that people cannot be corrupt." Entering the new era, from the Second Plenary Session of the 18th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection proposing "forming a punishment mechanism for not daring to be corrupt, a prevention mechanism for not being able to be corrupt, and a guarantee mechanism for not being easy to be corrupt," to the "Several Guidelines on Political Life Within the Party Under the New Situation" requiring "efforts to build the institutional mechanisms for not daring to be corrupt, not being able to be corrupt, and not wanting to be corrupt," and then to the Third Plenary Session of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection explicitly emphasizing "advancing the integrated approach of not daring to be corrupt, not being able to be corrupt, and not wanting to be corrupt," and the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection incorporating it into the overall requirements for the fight against corruption on the new journey, our Party has deeply grasped the internal laws of punishing, preventing, and curbing corruption, and has explored scientific methods and effective paths for the integrated advancement of ensuring that officials do not dare to be corrupt, cannot be corrupt, and do not want to be corrupt. At the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, General Secretary Xi Jinping made arrangements for advancing the fight against corruption with greater sobriety and determination, emphasizing that greater efforts must be made in the integrated advancement. Through the integrated advancement of ensuring that officials do not dare to be corrupt, cannot be corrupt, and do not want to be corrupt, the deterrent effect of not daring to be corrupt has been fully demonstrated, the cage of not being able to be corrupt has been tied ever tighter, the consciousness of not wanting to be corrupt has been significantly enhanced, a large number of surface-level and overt corruption cases have been cleaned up, new-type corruption and hidden corruption have been effectively investigated and dealt with, the management systems and mechanisms in various fields have been further improved, and the good practice of upholding integrity and rejecting corruption has been further formed.
The integrated advancement of ensuring that officials do not dare to be corrupt, cannot be corrupt, and do not want to be corrupt is the strategic lever for deepening the fight against corruption by addressing both symptoms and root causes. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Not daring to be corrupt, not being able to be corrupt, and not wanting to be corrupt are an organic whole that are interdependent and mutually reinforcing; they must be coordinated and linked to enhance the overall effect." "Not daring" is the premise, emphasizing the strengthening of institutional rigidity through strict discipline enforcement and law enforcement, so that Party members and cadres move from the "not daring" born of fear of being investigated and dealt with to the "not daring" born of reverence for the Party and the people and reverence for Party discipline and state law; "not being able" is the key, emphasizing the scientific allocation of power, strengthening the reform of supervision mechanisms and institutional construction in key areas, and promoting the formation of a continuously improved institutional system and a strict and effective supervision system; "not wanting" is the foundation, emphasizing the consolidation of the ideological foundation for resisting corruption and preventing degeneration by strengthening education in ideals and convictions, by improving Party spirit awareness, and by cultivating a culture of integrity. Only by effectively linking the three together, exerting force simultaneously, in the same direction, and comprehensively, can we integrate the powerful deterrent effect of not daring to be corrupt, the rigid institutional constraints of not being able to be corrupt, and the ideological education advantages of not wanting to be corrupt, comprehensively give play to the functions of punishment and deterrence, punishment and rescue, and education and warning, and lay a solid foundation for achieving a peaceful and tranquil world (海晏河清, hai yan he qing - "sea, calm; river, clear") and a bright and upright society.
The integrated advancement of ensuring that officials do not dare to be corrupt, cannot be corrupt, and do not want to be corrupt lies in "integration," and the difficulty also lies in "integration." In practice, some have a shallow understanding of integrated advancement, holding "stage theory" thinking, believing that not daring to be corrupt, not being able to be corrupt, and not wanting to be corrupt have a sequential order, habitually first focusing on investigating and handling cases to form deterrence, then on promoting reform through cases and plugging loopholes, and finally on warning education and ideological tempering, treating not daring to be corrupt, not being able to be corrupt, and not wanting to be corrupt as three stages to be unfolded step by step, implemented segment by segment by different departments in execution, resulting in a situation of "railway police, each in charge of their own section," making it difficult to form integrated synergy. Some hold "link theory" thinking, simply corresponding not daring to be corrupt, not being able to be corrupt, and not wanting to be corrupt to the three tasks of investigating and handling cases, institutional construction, and integrity education, and even one-sidedly believing that not daring to be corrupt is the work of case investigation departments, not being able to be corrupt is the work of supervision departments, and not wanting to be corrupt is the work of propaganda departments, leading to difficulties in implementing promoting reform through cases and promoting governance through cases. Misunderstandings in understanding inevitably lead to deviations in implementation. In specific implementation, some places have seen the situation of "emphasizing investigation and punishment, neglecting governance, and weakening education," believing that investigating cases is the main business and a "hard indicator," while rectification and governance, integrity education, and the like are "soft tasks" that are difficult to evaluate and assess, and in work they tend to choose the simple approach of closing cases and filing them, resulting in more individual case investigations and less systematic governance, and the effectiveness of addressing root causes needs to be further enhanced.
We must clearly recognize that corruption is a manifestation of the long-term accumulation and continuous fermentation of various undesirable factors within the Party, and that fighting corruption is a struggle against the pathogens that weaken the Party's advanced nature and damage the Party's purity; the fight against corruption is always on the way. At present, the situation in the fight against corruption remains severe and complex, and the task of eradicating the soil and conditions for corruption remains arduous and heavy. Judging from the cases investigated and dealt with by discipline inspection and supervision organs at all levels in recent years, corruption problems remain frequent and multiple. General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly emphasized: "The integrated advancement of not daring to be corrupt, not being able to be corrupt, and not wanting to be corrupt still requires further intensification of efforts." Specifically, in terms of not daring to be corrupt, some people are still acting willfully and recklessly (肆意妄为, si yi wang wei - "recklessly, act; willfully, behave"), and we must continue to strike hard; in terms of not being able to be corrupt, there are still shortcomings in institutional mechanisms, and we must continue to reform and improve; in terms of not wanting to be corrupt, some people still have weak ideological defenses, and we must continue to strengthen education in ideals and convictions and warning education. We must make greater efforts in the integrated advancement of ensuring that officials do not dare to be corrupt, cannot be corrupt, and do not want to be corrupt, strengthen the systematic approach, strengthen coordination and cooperation, focus on eradicating the soil and conditions for corruption, and achieve the purification of "blue-green algae" and the clearing of "silt."
Maintain a high-pressure posture in punishing corruption, ensuring that corruption is opposed wherever it exists, greed is punished wherever it exists, and evil is eradicated completely. In response to the severe and complex situation in the fight against corruption, General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly stated: "No matter how much resistance we face or how great the price we pay, we must carry the fight against corruption through to the end! No matter who it is, no matter how high the position, no matter how great the contribution, if they engage in corruption, there will be no leniency!" Under the current situation and tasks, we should focus on investigating and dealing with whatever problems are prominent, exert force wherever work is weak, drive overall progress through key breakthroughs, and continuously expand the depth and breadth of the fight against corruption. Highlight areas where power is concentrated, capital is dense, and resources are abundant, deepen the rectification of corruption in key areas such as finance, state-owned enterprises, energy, education, academic societies and associations, development zones, and bidding and tendering, and effectively curb the frequent and multiple occurrence of corruption. Highlight the key issue of the interweaving of political and economic problems, seriously investigate and deal with problems such as collusion between government and business, power providing protection for capital, and capital infiltrating the political sphere, and deeply investigate and uncover new-type corruption and hidden corruption such as expected returns, agreed nominee shareholding, "white gloves," and the "revolving door" between government and business. Highlight the key targets of those who do not restrain themselves and do not stop, and those who act willfully and recklessly, focus on investigating corruption among the "key minority" and young cadres, and rectify the behavior of some leading cadres who "retire but do not rest" and use their "residual authority" to seek improper benefits. Routinely rectify unhealthy tendencies and corruption problems around the masses, and severely punish "flies and ants" of corruption. Deepen international cooperation against corruption, strengthen the pursuit of fugitives, prevention of flight, and recovery of stolen assets, and intensify efforts to investigate and deal with cross-border corruption cases. Deepen the simultaneous investigation of both bribe-takers and bribe-givers, resolutely investigate and deal with bribe-givers who knowingly violate the law and repeat their offenses, and eradicate the source of pollution of "encirclement and hunting." Continuously improve the penetrating power of anti-corruption efforts, promptly discover, accurately identify, and effectively govern all types of corruption problems. Deepen the simultaneous investigation and governance of work style and corruption, see through the appearance of "work style" to uncover the essence of "corruption," deeply investigate the use of business to support officials, the use of officials to protect business, and the integration of officials and business behind inaction and arbitrary action, thoroughly investigate the entrustment of matters and the transfer of interests behind illegal eating and drinking, and severely punish behaviors such as cultivating political brokers and political swindlers.
Strengthen the restriction and supervision of the exercise of power, and put power in the cage of institutions. Regardless of the size of power, if it is not scientifically allocated, not operated in a standardized manner, and not properly supervised, it may be abused and breed corruption problems. At present, some laws, regulations, and institutional provisions are too principled and general, lacking sufficient pertinence and operability; the connections between different laws, regulations, and institutions are not close enough, with gaps and loopholes; and the construction of laws, regulations, and institutions for new fields, new business forms, and new groups is relatively lagging behind. The institutional construction for problems such as the difficulty of supervising "top leaders" and effectively preventing corruption among young cadres, as well as the penetrating power and execution capacity for governing new-type corruption and hidden corruption and cross-border corruption, all need to be strengthened. We must improve the institutional mechanism that unifies authorization, power use, and power restriction, and is clear, transparent, and traceable, grasp key links such as policy formulation, deliberation and decision-making, approval and supervision, and law enforcement and justice, strictly define responsibilities and authority, standardize work procedures, improve the list system of powers and responsibilities, accelerate the legalization of institutions, functions, powers, procedures, and responsibilities, and ensure that power is legally defined and boundaries are clear. Deepen the reform of the national supervision system, establish institutional mechanisms that connect discipline and law and link law with law, organically combine intra-Party supervision with national supervision and Party discipline with state law, and promote standardized use. For some new fields and areas where power is concentrated, capital is dense, and resources are abundant that still have institutional shortcomings, formulate targeted and practical institutions, regulate discretionary power, reduce opportunities for rent-seeking and rent-setting, and prevent the phenomenon of "a cow pen for a cat" and "a paper cage for a tiger." Keep a close eye on major power matters and key business processes, establish a linkage mechanism for corruption early warning and punishment, strengthen dynamic monitoring of integrity risk hazards, promote the forward movement of the supervision gate, and strengthen rapid response and joint handling of new-type corruption and hidden corruption.
Further deepen integrity education and consolidate the ideological foundation for upholding integrity and rejecting corruption. Only when Party members and cadres tighten the master switch of their worldview, outlook on life, and values, and raise their ideological awareness and spiritual realm, can they move from not daring to be corrupt to not wanting to be corrupt. We must adhere to using the Party's innovative theories to unite hearts and forge souls, be adept at using the ideals and convictions, value concepts, moral concepts, and discipline and law awareness contained therein to cultivate the clean and honest conduct of Party members and cadres, and build a solid ideological, moral, disciplinary, and legal defense line against corruption and degeneration. Continuously strengthen education in loyalty to the Party, education in ideals and convictions, education in the fundamental purpose, and education in laws, regulations, and institutions, guide Party members and cadres to clear up confusion and return to the original source (正本清源, zheng ben qing yuan - "correct, root; clear, source") and strengthen the foundation and nourish the essence (固本培元, gu ben pei yuan - "solidify, root; cultivate, essence") ideologically, and consciously achieve understanding of discipline and law, clarity of rules, and reverence and awe. Strengthen the construction of a culture of integrity in the new era, enhance the pertinence and effectiveness of integrity publicity and education, and continuously shape the ideological character of being clean and upright, the political cultivation of serving the public with integrity and honesty (廉洁奉公, lian jie feng gong - "clean, incorrupt; serve, public"), the moral conduct of integrity and self-discipline, and the social practice of upholding integrity and rejecting corruption. Adhere to hierarchical and categorized, precise education, strengthen demonstration and guidance with the advanced deeds of diligent and clean models, strengthen warning education with cases of violations of discipline and law around us, and continuously enhance the dissemination power, attractiveness, and appeal of the culture of integrity in the new era.Leading cadres should take the lead in strengthening family, family education, and family values, correctly handle the relationships between public and private, between closeness and clarity, and between emotion and law, and consciously achieve cultivating one's character and disciplining oneself (修身律己, xiu shen lv ji - "cultivate, self; discipline, self") and being clean and honest in managing the family.
Further clarify specific responsibilities, improve the anti-corruption work mechanism, and enhance the comprehensive effectiveness of the integrated advancement of ensuring that officials do not dare to be corrupt, cannot be corrupt, and do not want to be corrupt. Case handling, governance, supervision, and education are all important links in governing corruption and must be coordinated, linked, and organically connected. At present, there are still gaps in doing a solid job of promoting reform and governance through cases, analyzing the causes of corruption, finding management loopholes, and using typical cases to carry out warning education. Party committees (Party groups) at all levels must earnestly assume their primary responsibility, plan, deploy, and implement punishment and deterrence, the establishment of rules and regulations, and warning education as an integrated whole, resolutely support the investigation and handling of corruption cases, and tackle problems head-on in rectification, and must not use the supervision responsibility of discipline inspection commissions to replace their own primary responsibility, let alone abandon responsibility and shirk it entirely. Actively promote the coordination and integration of various types of supervision, with intra-Party supervision as the leading force, and promote the organic integration and mutual coordination of people's congress supervision, democratic supervision, administrative supervision, judicial supervision, audit supervision, financial and accounting supervision, statistical supervision, mass supervision, and public opinion supervision. Discipline inspection and supervision organs are the specialized organs of the Party and the state for supervision, and need to further strengthen the effective connection between discipline inspection and supervision supervision and inspection tours, audit supervision, and petition supervision, do a solid job of promoting reform and governance through cases, improve the pertinence and precision of discipline inspection and supervision recommendations, strengthen follow-up supervision and tracking of the effectiveness of rectification implementation, and form a closed-loop mechanism of supervision, case handling, rectification, and governance. Improve the list of supervision matters, carry out risk investigation, institutional implementation, and daily education, regularly report progress, form a closed-loop system with Party committees taking the lead, discipline inspection and supervision organs supervising, and relevant functional departments fulfilling their responsibilities, and better realize the integrated advancement of not daring to be corrupt, not being able to be corrupt, and not wanting to be corrupt through the coordinated exertion of responsibility.
Author: Deputy Director and Professor of the Department of Party Building Teaching and Research, the Party School of the CPC Central Committee (National Academy of Governance)
Return to TopBy: 巨力
Walking the New Long March with Firm Ideals and Convictions
Ju Li
(1)
At the "Great Expedition — Themed Exhibition Commemorating the 90th Anniversary of the Victory of the Long March of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army," a pair of worn-out straw sandals sits quietly on display. The sandals are light, yet the history they bear weighs as heavily as a thousand jun. Looking back at that possessing a magnificent and heroic spirit (气吞山河, qì tūn shān hé - "breath, swallow; mountain, river") expedition 90 years ago, people cannot help but ask: under conditions of extreme material scarcity, what force enabled the ragged Red Army to march as far as 25,000 li, cross nearly a hundred rivers, scale snow-capped mountains, traverse vast grasslands, shatter the encirclement, pursuit, blockade, and interception of over a million enemy troops, and ultimately accomplish a great feat that opened a new situation?
General Secretary Xi Jinping once asked with deep feeling and answered with profound insight: "How many of those in the Long March survived? What did the Red Army soldiers rely on? What were they seeking?" — "What they relied on was firm revolutionary ideals and convictions." Comrade Zhang Wentian once said that without "the spirit of sacrificing and struggling to the end for one's own ideals," "even a one-thousand-li Long March would be impossible." When a person is so hungry that he chews on leather belts, so frozen that he loses limbs, yet still crawls to keep up with the troops, what drives him is no longer the instinct for survival, but something harder than life itself. The victory of the Long March was, in the final analysis, the victory of ideals and convictions. The Long March was a miracle of faith, a human epic written with will and courage, full of ideals and the spirit of dedication. The great Long March spirit fully demonstrates the power of loyalty, the power of truth, the power of justice, and the power of unity — it is the most magnificent footnote to the transformation of "spirit into matter."
A force with faith as firm as iron is invincible. Comrade Mao Zedong once said, "When the Central Soviet Area's Red Army arrived in northern Shaanxi after the Long March, only seven thousand remained, reduced to 'skin and bones,'" "but what remained was the cream of the Chinese revolution." Comrade Zhou Enlai said, "Our Red Army is like a great tree that has passed through a violent storm — though it has lost some branches and leaves, it has preserved its trunk and roots." The "trunk and roots" are the steel-like force that, tempered through blood and fire, grew ever stronger — the faith that "revolutionary ideals are higher than heaven." It was precisely because the roots remained and the trunk grew stronger that this once "skin-and-bones" force defeated the Japanese aggressors with tenacious will and heroic struggle, overthrew the reactionary rule of the Kuomintang with the momentum of sweeping away enemy forces like a rolling wave (横扫千军如卷席, héng sǎo qiān jūn rú juǎn xí - "sweep, thousand, army; like, roll, grass"), and made a new China stand tall and imposing (巍然屹立, wēi rán yì lì - "lofty, so; stand, erect") in the East of the world.
The power of faith transcends time and space and is of vital importance at all times. Whether in the past, the present, or the future, faith in Marxism and conviction in socialism and communism have always been the political soul of Communists and the spiritual pillar that enables Communists to withstand any test. Without ideals and convictions, or with weak ideals and convictions, one will suffer "calcium deficiency" in the spirit and contract "rickets." The Communist Party of China is called the Communist Party precisely because from the very day of its founding it established communism as its lofty ideal. Over the past 105 years, our Party has been able to advance from victory to victory, fundamentally change the future and destiny of the Chinese people, and write the most magnificent epic in the several-thousand-year history of the Chinese nation — in the final analysis, this is because it has cherished the lofty ideal of communism, dedicated itself to the eternal cause of the Chinese nation, and unswervingly adhering to a goal or belief (矢志不渝, shǐ zhì bù yú - "aim, will; not, change") fought for its ideals and convictions.
Today, we are advancing on the new journey of comprehensively building a strong country and advancing the great cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization. At the conference commemorating the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Long March of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, General Secretary Xi Jinping solemnly declared, "The new journey is an expedition full of glory and dreams — it is the new Long March of the Party and the people," and stressed that "we must vigorously carry forward the great Long March spirit and working together with one heart and mind (同心协力, tóng xīn xié lì - "same, heart; cooperate, strength") walk the new Long March well." To carry forward the great Long March spirit and walk the new Long March well — say what one will, the key is to take up and pass on the torch of ideals and convictions, transform it into the historical initiative to respond to changing situations and open up new prospects, and enable the dialectic of "spirit into matter" to unleash an irresistible force under new historical conditions.
(2)
Whose doctrine one believes in, one follows. During the Long March, the most simple conviction of the Red Army officers and soldiers was: "Believe in the Communist Party, believe in the Red Army, believe that following the Red Army means having a future." When Comrade Deng Xiaoping's daughter asked him what he did during the Long March, he answered in just three words: follow along. To follow along is to follow the Party, to follow the correct line, to follow ideals and convictions. It was precisely by transforming faith in communism and conviction in the inevitable victory of the revolution into resolute obedience to the Party's leadership that the Red Army officers and soldiers were able to avoid losing their way and disintegrating even in desperate straits.
Comrade Mao Zedong said: "Who made the Long March victorious? It was the Communist Party. Without the Communist Party, such a Long March would be inconceivable." General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, "The road to the great victory of the Red Army's Long March was walked out by relying on the correct leadership of the Party," and "the correct leadership of the Party and the establishment of Comrade Mao Zedong's core position were of decisive significance to the victory of the Red Army's Long March." The Zunyi Conference, held during the Long March, became a of vital importance or life-and-death significance (生死攸关, shēng sǐ yōu guān - "life, death; critical, connection") turning point in the history of the Chinese revolution. How did the turning point come about? The key lay in the fact that it effectively established Comrade Mao Zedong's leadership position in the Party Central Committee and the Red Army, began to establish the leadership position in the Party Central Committee of the correct Marxist line mainly represented by Comrade Mao Zedong, began to form the Party's first generation of central leadership collective with Comrade Mao Zedong at its core, and opened a new stage in which the Party independently and autonomously solved the practical problems of the Chinese revolution.
The history of the Long March, the history of the Chinese revolution, and the Party's history of struggle over more than a hundred years have repeatedly shown that the question of the leadership core is of paramount importance. The primary test of whether ideals and convictions are firm is whether one can, at critical junctures, resolutely uphold the Party's core, uphold the authority of the Party Central Committee, and uphold its centralized, unified leadership. Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, General Secretary Xi Jinping, with the historical initiative, extraordinary theoretical courage, outstanding political wisdom, and strong sense of mission of a Marxist politician, thinker, and strategist, has calmly steered through various complex situations and effectively responded to various risks and challenges at home and abroad, becoming the person who commands the widespread support of the people (众望所归, zhòng wàng suǒ guī - "masses, expectation, what; return") and the well-deserved core of the Party, the leader of the people, and the supreme commander of the military. The great achievements in governing, strengthening, and invigorating the Party in the new era, and the opening of a completely new situation in the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, are fundamentally attributable to the helm-steering of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core and to the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully demonstrating that the Two Establishments (两个确立) are of decisive significance to the development of the Party and the country's cause in the new era and to advancing the historical process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Today, our Party has more than 100 million members and over 5.4 million primary-level Party organizations, shouldering arduous and heavy missions and tasks. The larger the ranks, the more a fixed star is needed; the heavier the burden, the more a mainstay is needed. On the new journey, the tests of blood and fire are fewer, but the examination question of "follow along" has not become invalid. Judging from the situation of some corrupt elements who have been investigated and punished, they often first degenerate politically, becoming double-faced people who harbor divided loyalties and acting obediently in public while defying orders in private (阳奉阴违, yáng fèng yīn wéi - "sun, obey; moon, violate"). To firm up ideals and convictions, one must forge unwavering loyalty to the Party, resolutely responding to what the Party Central Committee advocates, resolutely implementing what the Party Central Committee decides, and resolutely not doing what the Party Central Committee prohibits. No matter how the wind and waves blow on the road ahead, as long as we unswervingly uphold the Party's overall leadership and the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, deeply understand the decisive significance of the Two Establishments, and resolutely achieve the Two Upholds, we will have the fundamental guarantee for walking the new Long March well.
(3)
The ideals and convictions of Communists, when put in practical terms, mean enabling the common people to live good lives. Whether a Party member's ideals and convictions are firm is not judged by how high-sounding his statements are, but by how deep his feelings for the masses are. General Secretary Xi Jinping has said, "Whether a Communist Party member or a leading cadre possesses the lofty ideal of communism has objective criteria," one of which "is whether he can adhere to the fundamental purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly." It is precisely because ideals and convictions and the Party's purpose are intrinsically unified that the General Secretary often speaks of them as a whole, stressing that ideals, convictions, and purpose are the "soul" of Communists.
The Long March was a great expedition of ideals and convictions, and also a history reflecting the deep bond between the army and the people, as close as fish and water. During the Long March, wherever the Red Army officers and soldiers went, they not committing even the slightest theft or crime (秋毫无犯, qiū háo wú fàn - "autumn, hair; no, commit"), "preferring to suffer cold themselves rather than take a single item from the people without permission," and the masses along the way deeply felt that "the Red Army is the army of the workers and peasants themselves." From the reluctance of "Seeing Off the Red Army Ten Times," the guardianship of the night crossing at Yudu, to the warmth of "half a quilt" and the oath of the "Yihai Alliance," all are vivid portrayals of how Chinese Communists warm people's hearts with sincerity and win people's hearts with their original aspiration. Breathing the same air, sharing the same fate, and being heart-to-heart with the people is the Party's original aspiration and also its enduring commitment. After the founding of New China, Comrade Mao Zedong said: "Our troops, when there was no grain, ate tree bark and leaves. Sharing blessings and sharing misfortunes with the people — this is what we did in the past, so why can't we do it now? As long as we do this, we will not become divorced from the masses." The reason the Communist Party of China has been able to grow and develop continuously is precisely that it has always represented the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the people, sharing joys and sorrows together (休戚与共, xiū qì yǔ gòng - "joy, sorrow, with, share") and living and dying with them, having no special interests of its own, and never representing the interests of any interest group, any power group, or any privileged stratum.
General Secretary Xi Jinping has stressed that the question of for whom and relying on whom is the touchstone for testing the nature of a political party and a political power. Today, our Party has been in power nationwide for more than 70 years, and the channels for connecting with the masses are far richer than in the past, yet there are still some noteworthy problems in Party-masses relations. Some cadres pay lip service to "serving the people" but pass the buck and prevaricate when faced with the masses' urgent concerns and pressing needs; some turn the "fish-water relationship" into a "frog-water relationship" or even an "oil-water relationship" — jumping into the water when they need the masses' support and jumping ashore when they do not, or appearing to be in the same container while in fact the oil floats on the water and the two never mix, with their bodies entering the grassroots but their hearts separated by a wall. The ancients said, one hundred li from the hall is farther than one thousand li from the hall, and ten thousand li from the gate. Our Party's greatest political advantage is its close connection with the masses, and the greatest danger after the Party comes to power is becoming divorced from the masses. To walk the new Long March well, we must hold fast to the original aspiration of founding and building the cause, uphold the principle that the country is the people and the people are the country, always think and work together with the people, resolutely do well whatever the masses support and expect, and resolutely guard against and correct whatever the masses oppose and detest. Only in this way can our Party possess a solid foundation that no storm can shake.
(4)
Firm ideals and convictions are not blind superstition with eyes closed, nor blind obedience to books. Dogmatism that violates seeking truth from facts not only fails to reach the other shore of ideals, but turns ideals into empty fantasies. Only by combining fervent revolutionary ideals with sober down-to-earth pragmatism, combining firmness of principle with flexibility of tactics, and adhering to proceeding from reality in everything can ideals find the road to reality.
The Long March explained this truth thoroughly at the cost of blood. Before the Zunyi Conference, the erroneous "Left" line that lasted four years caused enormous losses to the revolutionary base areas and to revolutionary forces in the white areas. The harm of "Left" dogmatism lay not in a lack of revolutionary ideals and revolutionary will, but in dogmatizing Marxism, sanctifying the resolutions of the Comintern and the experience of the Soviet Union, failing to learn independence and autonomy, and not understanding how to combine the basic principles of Marxism with the concrete reality of the Chinese revolution — and thus hitting one's head against the wall and bleeding before harsh reality. Facing the anguish and confusion of "the bloody crossing of the Xiang River, where do the three armies head today," our Party began to independently and realistically solve major questions such as which road to take and how to fight battles. From crossing the Chishui River four times and skillfully crossing the Jinsha River, to forcibly crossing the Dadu River and seizing the Luding Bridge by flight, the Party and the Red Army were able to break through the enemy's layer upon layer of blockade and gain new life precisely because they adopted a series of strategic and tactical approaches that conformed to reality and were flexible and mobile.
Chernyshevsky had a famous saying: "The path of history is not the sidewalk of Nevsky Prospekt; it advances entirely through the fields, sometimes through dust, sometimes through mud, sometimes crossing swamps, sometimes passing through jungles." The communist ideal and the basic principles of scientific socialism must never be abandoned at any time — to abandon them is to lose the soul; equally important is that we must always adhere to independence and autonomy and seeking truth from facts, shifting at all times and in all places according to specific historical conditions. Over more than a hundred years, Chinese Communists have adhered to the Two Integrations, independently walked their own path, endured untold hardships, paid various prices, continuously advanced the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism, and successfully initiated and developed socialism with Chinese characteristics. In particular, since the 18th National Congress of the Party, under the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics has grown ever broader, scientific socialism has radiated new vigorous vitality in 21st-century China, and the historical evolution and contest between the two ideologies and two social systems worldwide has undergone a major shift favorable to Marxism and socialism.
Socialism with Chinese characteristics is the unity of the Party's highest program and its basic program. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed: "Without lofty ideals, one is not a qualified Communist Party member; leaving real work aside and speaking emptily of lofty ideals also makes one not a qualified Communist Party member." To walk the new Long March well, we must unify the lofty ideal of communism with the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics, strengthen confidence in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics, focus on what we are doing, advance the current cause with our feet on the ground, and march into the new journey and make contributions to the new era with an even more spirited posture.
(5)
The road to ideals has never been smooth. The loftier the ideal, the more one must cut through brambles and open up the road through tenacious struggle. Daring to struggle and daring to win is the powerful spiritual force that makes the Party and the people invincible. During the Long March, the Party and the Red Army fought against heaven and earth, struggling not only against the reactionary Kuomintang troops who encircled, pursued, blocked, and intercepted them, but also against the harsh natural environment; not only against dogmatism and splittism within the Party, but also against their own hunger, cold, and wounds. With a fighting spirit that overwhelmed all enemies without being overwhelmed by any, and conquered all difficulties without being conquered by any, the Red Army officers and soldiers wrote a soul-stirring epic of revolutionary heroism.
"The strong passes is truly like iron, yet today we stride across it anew." On the new Long March road, the mountains remain, and the passes still exist. Today, we are closer than at any time in history to realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, but the last leg of a journey is the hardest; the closer we get to this point, the more we will encounter unprecedented challenges. Internationally, the once-in-a-century transformation of the world is accelerating, bringing about a systemic reshaping involving the interwoven resonance of the international balance of power, the global governance system, industrial and supply chains, and the dynamics of scientific and technological competition. Domestically, China's development has entered a critical period of consolidating the foundation and making comprehensive efforts to basically realize socialist modernization, and further comprehensively deepening reform, promoting high-quality development, strengthening social construction and governance, coordinating development and security, and stimulating and enhancing social vitality all face many new issues. As General Secretary Xi Jinping said: "On the new journey, the risk tests we face will only become more complex, and we may even encounter unimaginable stormy waves. The various struggles we face are not short-term but long-term, and will accompany the entire process of realizing the Second Centenary Goal."
The more severe the challenge, the higher the requirements for meeting it. After decades in power and long periods of peace, one tends to crave comfort and ease, lose the spirit of struggle, lose one's way in complex environments of swirling clouds, shrink back and flee under enormous pressure as heavy as Mount Tai, and surrender at the first onslaught of sugar-coated bullets. Comrade Mao Zedong, addressing the problem that after the victory of the revolution some comrades' "revolutionary will had somewhat declined and revolutionary enthusiasm was somewhat insufficient," called on the whole Party to maintain that same vigor, that same revolutionary enthusiasm, and that same spirit of desperate struggle from the period of the revolutionary war. In reality, some cadres take a detour when encountering contradictions, "muddle through" on matters of principle, and treat "not causing trouble" as their greatest achievement; some young people, caught between "unable to keep up the rat race" and "unwilling to lie flat," choose to be "Buddhist." Ideals and convictions will not automatically become firm in a greenhouse, nor will the spirit of struggle naturally grow from comfort and ease. Only by always maintaining a vigorous spirit of daring to blaze new trails, being firm believers, strivers, and fighters, willing to shoulder the heaviest burdens, able to gnaw the hardest bones, and skilled at handling the hottest potatoes, and sweeping away all roadblocks with tenacious fighting spirit, can we create new historical achievements on the new Long March road.
(6)
Firm ideals and convictions, along with political qualities such as loyalty to the Party, serving the people, seeking truth from facts, and daring to struggle, all boil down to two words: Party spirit. Party spirit is the inherent attribute of a political party. If it is said that Communist Party members are made of special material, then that special material is the Party spirit unique to Communists. With unswerving faith, arduous and extraordinary struggle, and the choice to face death head-on, the Long March perfectly interpreted what the Party spirit of Communists is and what the true colors of the vanguard are, centrally demonstrated the Party's fine qualities, and achieved an extremely profound revolutionary forging of the young Communist Party of China.
From 1936 to 2026, that force which once trudged with difficulty through towering mountains and desolate grasslands has grown into the world's largest governing party with significant global influence. From fighting through bloodshed on the Long March road to forging ahead under long-term governance, our Party has grown ever more determined through trials and tribulations, and has become stronger through a thousand temperings. Over the past 90 years, what has changed is the historical orientation and the demands of the times; what has not changed is the consistent tempering of Party spirit by Chinese Communists and the historical initiative of focusing on strengthening themselves.
The times are the examiners, we are the examinees, and the people are the graders. Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has unswervingly promoted full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, turning the blade inward and severely punishing corruption, continuously solving prominent problems, fundamentally reversing the previously lax and soft state of Party governance, curbing unhealthy tendencies that had long gone unchecked, correcting chronic ills that had persisted for years, eliminating serious hidden dangers within the Party, the state, and the military, and making the Party stronger and more powerful through revolutionary forging. In the great practice of governing, strengthening, and invigorating the Party in the new era, and in the process of scientifically answering the major issue of the times of what kind of long-term governing Marxist party to build and how to build it, Xi Jinping's thought on Party building came into being, enriching and developing the Marxist theory of Party building and leading the way to a new realm of self-revolution for a century-old major party.
There is no rest stop in governing and strengthening the Party. On the new journey, the world situation, the national situation, and the Party's situation have undergone profound changes; the tasks of the Party uniting and leading the people to safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests have become more arduous; the tasks of the Party uniting and leading the people to promote reform and development and maintain social harmony and stability have become more arduous; and the tasks of the Party maintaining its advanced nature and purity have become more arduous. These pose major challenges to the Party's governing capacity, leadership level, quality of its ranks, and resistance to corruption under the new circumstances, and the "four major tests" and "four dangers" facing the Party are long-term, complex, and severe. The longer the Party governs, the longer the period of peace, and the more complex the environment, the more it must forever maintain the sobriety and resolve of one taking an examination, and build our Party better and stronger. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party made strategic arrangements for persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party. This is an inevitable requirement for walking the new Long March well. The Long March of that time tested whether the Party and the Red Army could survive in desperate straits; the Long March of today tests whether the Party's never-changing nature can ensure that the red rivers and mountains never change color. We must deeply study and implement Xi Jinping's thought on Party building, implement well all the arrangements of the Plenary Session on persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance of the Party, continuously realize the Party's self-purification, self-improvement, self-renewal, and self-enhancement, continuously strengthen the Party's political leadership, ideological guidance, mass organization, and social appeal, and ensure that the Party always remains a vibrant Marxist governing party that stands at the forefront of the times, is sincerely supported by the people, can withstand all storms and tests, and always remains the strong leadership core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
"Once the fire of ideals and convictions is ignited, it will never be extinguished." Ninety years have passed in the blink of an eye, but the history of the Long March has never receded, and the road of the Long March continues to extend. The whole Party must unite even more closely around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, take strengthening Party spirit cultivation as a lifelong subject, make sustained, long-term effort in firming up ideals and convictions, forging loyalty to the Party, cultivating deep feelings for the people, adhering to seeking truth from facts, purifying moral character, and maintaining integrity and honesty, forever preserve the political true colors of Communists, and unite and lead the people of all ethnic groups across the country to strive to create new brilliance on the new Long March road.
Return to TopBy: 孙金龙
Resolving Ecological and Environmental Protection Challenges Through Responsibility Implementation
Sun Jinlong
Whether ecological and environmental protection can be truly implemented hinges on leading officials. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that a responsibility accountability system must be established, and that those who make blind decisions disregarding the ecological environment and cause serious consequences must be held accountable, and should be held accountable for life. This important exposition profoundly elucidates the importance and urgency of carrying out accountability for ecological and environmental protection responsibilities, requiring us to grasp the "key minority" of leading officials, hold firmly to the "ox nose" of the responsibility system, and effectively promote leading officials to fulfill their duties and responsibilities through accountability, ensuring that the Party Central Committee's various decisions and arrangements regarding ecological civilization construction and ecological and environmental protection are implemented and produce results.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has introduced a series of reform measures and related systems around strengthening ecological civilization construction, established and improved the ecological and environmental protection responsibility system, and further consolidated and tightened the "dual responsibility of the Party and government" and "one post with dual responsibilities" for ecological and environmental protection. The General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the Provisions on the Ecological and Environmental Protection Responsibility System for Local Party and Government Leading Officials (Trial), clarifying the responsibilities of members of the leading bodies of local Party committees and governments at or above the county level, as well as the heads of ecological and environmental departments and departments bearing important ecological and environmental protection responsibilities. They issued the List of Ecological and Environmental Protection Responsibilities of Relevant Departments of Central and State Organs, clarifying that departments managing development, production, and industry must manage environmental protection. Systems were established for outgoing audits of natural resource assets of leading officials, the river chief system, the forest chief system, accountability for ecological and environmental damage, and compensation for ecological and environmental damage. The central ecological and environmental protection inspection system was creatively implemented, becoming a hard and practical measure to consolidate the ecological and environmental protection responsibilities of local Party committees, governments, and their relevant departments. However, judging from the ecological and environmental problems discovered through inspections and law enforcement and exposed by social media, some leading officials still have phenomena of not fulfilling their ecological and environmental protection responsibilities to the full extent or discounting them, causing serious consequences and adverse social impacts.
The principal responsible persons of local Party committees and governments at or above the county level are the first responsible persons for ecological and environmental protection in their regions and bear overall responsibility for the quality of the ecological environment in their regions. Currently, some principal responsible comrades of local Party committees and governments are not solid in fulfilling their political responsibility for ecological civilization construction, are ineffective in implementing the Party Central Committee's and the State Council's principles, policies, and decisions regarding ecological and environmental protection, and have insufficient research, insufficient overall coordination, and insufficient supervision over prominent ecological and environmental problems, with some even still following the old path of sacrificing the environment in exchange for temporary economic growth. For example, the second round of central ecological and environmental protection inspections found that in some places the phenomena of "lakefront development" and "boundary-line development" were prominent, some areas were encroached upon by real estate development projects, and some projects directly occupied protected areas. The then local Party and government principal leaders had weak awareness of responsibility, set low standards and lax requirements in ecological and environmental protection, only calculated immediate accounts rather than long-term accounts, causing serious ecological damage. In other places, principal leaders of local Party committees and governments did not fully implement the Yangtze River Protection Law, had unclear understanding and insufficient attention to the control requirements for the one-kilometer range of the shorelines of the main stream and tributaries of the Yangtze River, and illegally and improperly approved the construction of chemical industry parks and chemical projects. When principal responsible comrades of local Party committees and governments fail to fulfill their ecological and environmental protection responsibilities, it may lead to the pressure of ecological and environmental protection being transmitted with decreasing intensity layer by layer and weakened level by level, thereby causing the bottom line of ecological protection to be lost, the foundation of green development to be shaken, and people's livelihood and well-being to be damaged.
Relevant leading members of local Party committees and governments fulfill "one post with dual responsibilities" and bear leadership responsibility for ecological and environmental problems in the industries or fields under their charge. Currently, some leading officials are not effective in supervising and guiding the departments under their charge to fulfill their ecological and environmental protection duties and implement ecological and environmental protection goals and tasks, fail to supervise and detect violations of ecological and environmental protection laws, regulations, policies, and plans by the departments, industries, or fields under their charge, and fail to stop them in a timely manner. There is still a gap between the work of pollution prevention and control and ecological protection and restoration in the industries or fields under their charge and the requirements of the Party Central Committee. For example, some local leading officials have insufficient understanding of the importance of water environment governance, the river chief system in some river sections is existing in name only (形同虚设, xing tong xu she - "shape, same, empty, set"), the construction of urban water environment infrastructure lags behind, and the problem of black and odorous water bodies in urban built-up areas is serious. The third round of central ecological and environmental protection inspections found that in some places the problem of disorderly sand mining was prominent, some sand mining enterprises had not gone through the procedures for land acquisition and occupation, illegally occupied grassland and forest land, and the local leaders in charge did not promptly guide relevant departments to carry out rectification work in accordance with rules and regulations, resulting in illegal and non-compliant behavior persisting for a long time. When leaders in charge fail to fulfill their ecological and environmental protection responsibilities, the chain of ecological and environmental protection responsibilities will be broken and disconnected, relevant departments may lack sufficient pressure and motivation in advancing ecological and environmental protection work, and ecological and environmental protection work may easily have gaps, thereby weakening the overall effectiveness of ecological and environmental protection.
Leading officials of relevant departments of local governments bear the responsibility for ecological and environmental protection in their industries or fields and are an important part of building a major pattern of joint management of ecological and environmental protection. However, in actual work, some departmental leading officials, when formulating relevant systems, regulations, and work measures, do not fully consider the requirements of intra-Party regulations, laws and regulations, policies, plans, etc. on ecological and environmental protection, illegally approve development and utilization plans and projects, fail to conduct supervision and inspection of the implementation of ecological and environmental laws and regulations as required, and have problems of inaction, arbitrary action, and non-standardization in ecological and environmental law enforcement, causing serious consequences and adverse impacts. For example, under the circumstances where the Party Central Committee explicitly ordered all localities to strictly control the launch of high energy consumption and high emission (hereinafter referred to as "two high") projects, some local departmental leading officials still organized the declaration of "two high" projects and were not timely and effective in supervising the rectification of the problem of "two high" projects being constructed without approval. Some local departmental leading officials passively dealt with ecological and environmental protection policies and regulations, paid insufficient attention to forest land protection and restoration, failed to fulfill their duties in key links such as daily supervision, and the problems of illegal occupation of forest land and destruction of forest resources were prominent. In other places, the problem of wetland destruction was serious, and the masses strongly reflected this, but the relevant departmental leading officials did not pay attention to it and did not seriously organize investigation and rectification. When leading officials of relevant departments of local governments fail to fulfill their ecological and environmental protection responsibilities, it is easy to lead to blind spots in industry supervision, lax and soft approval and law enforcement, continuous accumulation of pollution risks, repeated occurrence of similar ecological and environmental problems, and difficulty in promptly responding to and resolving the masses' environmental demands.
Central enterprises shoulder the political responsibility of implementing the Party Central Committee's major decisions and arrangements and the mission of the times to serve the country's major strategies, and should play an exemplary and leading role in ecological and environmental protection. However, judging from the problems found in inspections, some leading officials of central enterprises have failed in their duties, responsibilities, and supervision over ecological and environmental protection, are not resolute and thorough in implementing ecological and environmental protection requirements, have weak awareness and insufficient motivation to promote green transformation and high-quality development, do not pay attention to the behavior of their enterprises that damages the ecological environment, and even take the lead in falsification, shielding and conniving, causing serious ecological and environmental problems. For example, some enterprises' tailings ponds were not built with flood diversion ditches as required, tailings were piled up arbitrarily, fugitive emissions of flue gas were serious and obvious, and local governments and relevant departments had repeatedly interviewed or sent letters urging rectification, but the leading officials of the enterprises did not pay attention, did not fulfill their responsibilities, and dealt with the rectification perfunctorily. Some enterprise leaders did not firmly establish ecological safety awareness, illegally withdrew water without taking remedial measures to control it, and bore direct responsibility for ecological damage. Some enterprise leaders did not promote the construction of environmental protection facilities in coal mines as required, resulting in excessive discharge of mine drainage water that exceeded standards and causing river sections to turn black. Some enterprises were ineffective in updating and eliminating old mechanical and electrical equipment, resulting in problems such as backward technology, high energy consumption, and excessive emissions, which constrained the green and low-carbon transformation of the enterprises. When leading officials of central enterprises fail to fulfill their ecological and environmental protection responsibilities, it may lead to deviations in the green development orientation of enterprises; insufficient investment in ecological and environmental protection, lagging pollution control, and long-term unresolved ecological and environmental risks and hidden dangers not only hinder the sustainable development of enterprises but may even pose a potential threat to national ecological security.
The emergence of these problems is, on the one hand, due to the insufficient ideological understanding of leading officials in some localities, departments, and enterprises, their lack of in-depth study and implementation of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, their failure to firmly establish the concept of green development, and deviations in their view of political achievements. Among these, there are both the utilitarian tendency of one-sidedly treating economic growth as a hard task and ecological and environmental protection as a soft indicator, breaking through the ecological protection red line in project layout, and the work bias of emphasizing surface landscapes over basic safeguards and neglecting environmental livelihood issues around the masses such as noise, oil fumes, and pollution of small water bodies; there are both the short-sighted mindset of being keen on short-term visible achievements and investing insufficient energy in ecological restoration work with longer cycles, and the problems of formalism at work and insufficient responsibility, passively avoiding responsibility and shirking and delaying in the face of environmental conflicts, ultimately dragging small problems into major conflicts and turning local problems into systemic risks. On the other hand, it is also related to factors such as the mismatch of capabilities of some leading officials, imperfect systems, and unscientific assessment. Some leading officials do not have strong capabilities themselves, are not good at using legal thinking and legal methods to advance work, have insufficient overall coordination, insufficient integration of departmental forces and mobilization of resources from all sides, and fail to form a joint force in work, resulting in some ecological and environmental protection work being difficult to implement. The responsibility accountability system is not sound enough, and the connection with systems such as inspection and law enforcement, monitoring and evaluation, and damage compensation is not smooth enough, and the responsibility chain of "clarifying responsibilities—fulfilling responsibilities—supervising responsibilities—accounting for responsibilities" has not been fully connected; some localities and departments also have phenomena such as apportionment of responsibility and generalization of accountability, lacking precision and effectiveness. There is also a tendency of disconnection between assessment and evaluation and accountability, with clues to ecological and environmental damage problems found in assessments not being promptly transferred for accountability, and phenomena such as "assessment without accountability" and "replacing accountability with assessment" still existing, and the warning role of accountability is not fully exerted.
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that those with power must bear responsibility, those with responsibility must take on the burden, and those who fail in their responsibility must be held accountable. In August 2015, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the Measures for Accountability for Ecological and Environmental Damage by Party and Government Leading Officials (Trial), making the first institutional arrangement for holding Party and government leading officials accountable for ecological and environmental damage, and playing an important role in promoting the deep rooting of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization in people's minds and the implementation of ecological and environmental protection responsibilities. In August 2026, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the newly revised Measures for Accountability for Ecological and Environmental Damage by Party and Government Leading Officials (hereinafter referred to as the Measures), which runs through the adherence to and strengthening of the Party's overall leadership over ecological civilization construction, further broadens the applicable targets, focuses on refining and improving the accountability scenarios for four types of responsible subjects—principal responsible persons of local Party committees and governments, relevant leading members of local Party committees and governments, leading members of relevant departments of local governments, and leading members of relevant departments of central and state organs and relevant departments of local Party committees—and improves the methods and mechanisms of accountability. In October 2026, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee proposed improving the responsibility system in which all parties bear their respective responsibilities and coordinate uniformly, and optimizing the assessment mechanism for responsibility implementation. This is of great significance for advancing the construction of the rule of law in the ecological environment, improving the ecological and environmental protection system, enhancing the ecological and environmental protection responsibility awareness and sense of responsibility of leading officials at all levels, implementing the responsibilities of ecological civilization construction and ecological and environmental protection, and promoting new major progress in the construction of a Beautiful China during the 15th Five-Year Plan period.
As an important functional department performing the duties of overall coordination, supervision, and management of the ecology and environment, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment will continue to deeply implement Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, firmly establish and practice a correct view of political achievements, conscientiously implement the requirements of the Measures, make good use of the "hard grip" of accountability for ecological and environmental damage based on departmental duties, consolidate and tighten the ecological and environmental protection responsibilities of Party and government leading officials, and provide a strong guarantee for building a Beautiful China in which humans and nature coexist harmoniously.
Strengthen the deterrent effect of inspection, accountability, and accountability inquiries.
The central ecological and environmental protection inspection is a major institutional innovation and major reform measure personally planned, personally deployed, and personally promoted by General Secretary Xi Jinping. In recent years, through central ecological and environmental protection inspections, a number of major typical cases of ecological and environmental damage have been investigated and dealt with, a number of prominent ecological and environmental problems strongly reflected by the masses have been resolved, and localities and enterprises have been promoted to hold relevant leading officials accountable in accordance with regulations, disciplines, and laws. The Measures clarify that important ecological and environmental damage problems found in ecological and environmental protection inspection and other work, as well as situations of dereliction of duty by leading officials, should be transferred to discipline inspection and supervision organs and organization (personnel) departments in accordance with relevant authority, procedures, and requirements, which will carry out accountability in accordance with regulations, disciplines, and laws. It is necessary to give full play to the role of the sharp sword of ecological and environmental protection inspection, implement the mechanism for transferring clues to problems of accountability for ecological and environmental damage from central ecological and environmental protection inspections, and coordinately advance accountability and inspection rectification work. Consolidate and tighten the primary responsibility of the inspected subjects for inspection rectification, and for those who rectify ineffectively, perfunctorily, or falsely, seriously hold relevant leading officials accountable, and promote the strict implementation of the requirements of "dual responsibility of the Party and government" and "one post with dual responsibilities" for ecological and environmental protection.
Carry out accountability precisely, scientifically, and in accordance with the law.
The work of accountability for ecological and environmental damage is highly political and policy-oriented work, and must be precise, scientific, and in accordance with regulations and laws, effectively maintaining the authority, seriousness, and standardization of accountability for ecological and environmental protection responsibilities. It is necessary to adhere to correcting mistakes where they exist, asking questions where there is responsibility, and being strict in accountability where accountability is due, further clarify the boundaries of the rights and responsibilities of Party and government leading officials at all levels in ecological and environmental protection, strictly hold Party and government leading officials who cause ecological and environmental damage accountable in accordance with regulations, disciplines, and laws, strengthen the rigid constraints of accountability, and achieve consistency of rights and responsibilities and proportionality of mistakes and responsibilities. At the same time, the Measures clarify the implementation of a lifelong accountability system for ecological and environmental damage. For those who, due to deviations in their view of political achievements and violations of the new development philosophy and the requirements of high-quality development, cause serious damage to the ecological environment, regardless of whether the responsible person has been transferred, changed posts, promoted, left office, or retired, they must be seriously held accountable. It is necessary to correctly grasp the policy boundaries, combine the historical causes, nature and degree, response and handling, consequences and impacts, and recovery of losses, accurately make responsibility determinations and accountability decisions, achieve leniency and severity in balance and punishment commensurate with the fault, and prevent the generalization and simplification of accountability.
Establish a scientific and reasonable assessment and accountability system.
Establishing a scientific and reasonable assessment and evaluation system is an important grip for promoting the implementation of the responsibility system for leading officials in ecological and environmental protection. It is necessary to adhere to a problem-oriented approach, focus on the implementation of the primary responsibilities of Party and government, the quality of the ecological environment, the completion of annual work goals and tasks, the performance of fund use, and the degree of public satisfaction, and solidly carry out the assessment of the effectiveness of Beautiful China construction. Take the implementation of the ecological and environmental protection responsibility system by local Party and government leading officials as an important aspect of ecological and environmental protection assessment and evaluation, and implement the strictest assessment and accountability. Adhere to the principles of legality and compliance, objectivity and fairness, scientific determination, consistency of rights and responsibilities, and lifelong accountability, implement the responsibility system for ecological civilization construction during the tenure of leading officials, and implement outgoing audits of natural resource assets. Increase the application of assessment results and the intensity of problem rectification, promote the effective connection between assessment and evaluation and accountability, scientifically evaluate the political achievements of cadres, and promote cadres to better take on responsibilities and act.
Form a joint force for effective accountability work.
The Measures clarify that discipline inspection and supervision organs, organization (personnel) departments, and government departments responsible for supervision and management of ecological and environmental protection should improve the communication and coordination mechanism for accountability for ecological and environmental damage, achieve early detection, early reminder, and early correction of ecological and environmental damage problems, and strengthen consultation and research and judgment according to work needs, comprehensively make accountability decisions or put forward accountability suggestions. Ecological and environmental departments should strengthen information sharing and coordinated linkage with discipline inspection and supervision organs, organization (personnel) departments, audit organs, etc., and improve work measures such as the transfer of clues to accountability for ecological and environmental damage, investigation and handling, and feedback of results. Improve the mechanism for discovering ecological and environmental damage incidents, give full play to the role of systems such as ecological and environmental monitoring, law enforcement, inspection, and damage compensation, further form a fist and a joint force, and ensure that problem clues are discovered and investigated and dealt with in a timely manner. Investigate ecological and environmental damage problems in accordance with duties and the law, and when necessary, carry out upgraded investigations of major ecological and environmental damage problems or complex cross-regional, cross-basin, and cross-departmental ecological and environmental damage problems, make administrative penalty decisions or other handling decisions in accordance with the law, and promptly transfer them for accountability in accordance with relevant regulations, ensuring the organic unity of political effects, disciplinary and legal effects, and social effects.
Author: Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment
Return to TopBy: 毛盛勇
How to View the Current State of China's Economy and Its Development Trajectory
Mao Shengyong
In the first three quarters of 2026, China's economy withstood pressure and maintained stable operation, with gross domestic product (GDP) growing 4.6 percent year on year, showing a development trend of new drivers of growth and improved economic structure. The economic performance in the first three quarters fully demonstrates that China's economy has a solid foundation, many strengths, strong resilience, and great potential, that the foundation for achieving the main economic and social development goals of the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan is solid, and that sustained and healthy economic development has firm support.
I. Economic Growth Remains Within a Reasonable Range
Since the beginning of this year, in the face of an intricate and complicated international and domestic situation, China's economy has advanced despite pressure, made progress while maintaining stability, shifted toward new drivers and improved structure, and demonstrated strong resilience and vitality. In the first three quarters, GDP reached 107.1 trillion yuan, up 4.6 percent year on year. Judging from this performance, which was not easy to come by, China's economy has not only achieved reasonable growth in quantity but also highlighted effective improvement in quality, with new achievements made in high-quality development.
The 4.6 percent growth is growth achieved by overcoming internal and external challenges. This year, the external environment has undergone profound and complex changes. Geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East have had a major impact on global energy supply and industrial and supply chains. Domestically, economic development is in a stage of accelerated transition between old and new drivers of growth, with a prominent contradiction between strong supply and weak demand, and increased pressure to maintain stable economic operation. Under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee, China's economy has withstood external shocks, overcome internal challenges, and maintained stable operation, with all macro indicators remaining within a reasonable range. In terms of economic growth, the 4.6 percent growth rate in the first three quarters is in line with the expected target and will continue to lead among major global economies; the economic increment reached 5.7 trillion yuan, the largest for the same period in the past five years. In terms of employment, the average surveyed urban unemployment rate nationwide was 5.2 percent, unchanged from the same period last year and from the first half of the year. In terms of prices, against the backdrop of rising global inflationary pressure, China's consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.9 percent year on year, a relatively moderate increase. In terms of the balance of payments, the scale of trade in goods hit a new high for the same period, foreign exchange reserves remained above 3.4 trillion US dollars, and the RMB exchange rate rose steadily. These data corroborate each other and fully demonstrate that the main tone of "stability" in China's economy has not changed and that development resilience continues to be evident.
The 4.6 percent growth is growth driven by the iterative renewal of drivers. The rapid growth of new drivers is a prominent highlight of this year's economic development. In a complex external environment, the ability of China's economy to grow steadily owes much to the rapidly growing new drivers. Preliminary calculations show that new drivers, represented by high-end manufacturing, the digital and intelligent economy, and modern services, contributed more than 40 percent to economic growth in the first three quarters, up from the first half of the year. Advanced manufacturing industries such as high-tech manufacturing and digital product manufacturing grew rapidly, investment in new consumption models and new fields is flourishing and showing no sign of declining, and the "baton" of economic growth is being further passed to new drivers. Through technological transformation and digital and intelligent upgrading, traditional industries are continuously improving production efficiency and product quality and are gradually radiating new vitality. The coordinated development of emerging industries and traditional industries provides an inexhaustible source of power for China's economy to move toward the new.
The 4.6 percent growth is growth driven by structural upgrading and optimization. High-quality growth is sustainable growth and coordinated development, with its main driving force coming from the optimization and upgrading of the economic structure. Since the beginning of this year, China's economy has shown obvious characteristics of structural optimization. In terms of industrial structure, the share of manufacturing value added in GDP in the first three quarters increased by 0.6 percentage points year on year, further consolidating the foundation of the real economy; new-type services and R&D-oriented services developed well, with the combined value added of information transmission, software and information technology services and leasing and business services accounting for 0.5 percentage points more of GDP year on year. In terms of demand structure, investment played a stronger supporting role in improving supply and promoting innovation, with the shares of intellectual property product investment and high-tech industry investment in total investment both increasing in the first three quarters; the consumption structure continued to improve, with the share of per capita service consumption expenditure in household consumption expenditure rising 0.5 percentage points year on year. In terms of urban-rural and regional structure, the urban-rural income ratio narrowed by 0.04 year on year in the first three quarters, and residents' income in the central and western regions generally grew faster than in the eastern region.
The 4.6 percent growth is growth with improved development quality and efficiency. When observing economic performance, one must look not only at aggregate volume, drivers, and structure, but also at efficiency and quality. Since the beginning of this year, China's economy has accelerated its green transition, consolidated and strengthened its security foundation, steadily expanded opening up, and seen a marked improvement in corporate performance. Preliminary calculations show that energy consumption per unit of GDP fell 3.1 percent year on year in the first three quarters, and the retail penetration rate of new energy passenger vehicles exceeded 60 percent for six consecutive months. In the face of major fluctuations in the international energy market, China accelerated its green energy transition and diversification of imports, effectively withstood the risks posed by external shocks, and stabilized expectations. Diversified foreign trade markets have continued to expand, and China has become a major trading partner of 169 countries and regions worldwide. In the first three quarters, profits of industrial enterprises above designated size increased 15.5 percent year on year, with overall improvement in corporate performance.
II. The Development Trend Toward the New and the Better Is Becoming More Evident
"Moving toward the new" and "moving toward the better" are important features of China's economic development this year. In the first three quarters, new industries and new business forms grew steadily, and new supply and new demand interacted positively, effectively expanding the space for economic growth.
Emerging industries are accelerating their growth. Since the beginning of this year, China has achieved notable innovation results in many key fields of science and technology, with steady improvement in its scientific and technological strength. For the second consecutive year, China ranked among the world's top 10 most innovative economies, and for the fourth consecutive year it ranked first in the world in the number of top 100 global innovation clusters. The industrial application of scientific and technological achievements is also accelerating. In the first three quarters, the value added of equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing above designated size increased 10.2 percent and 14.3 percent year on year respectively, significantly faster than overall industry, and information transmission, software and information technology services and leasing and business services together contributed nearly one quarter of economic growth.
The vitality of digital and intelligent renewal is being unleashed. China has actively responded to the global trend of artificial intelligence transformation, promoted the continuous expansion of digital and intelligent applications, and provided more "digital dividends" and "intelligent support" for economic development. In the first three quarters, the value added of digital product manufacturing above designated size increased 13.6 percent year on year. The continuous intelligent transformation of production processes drove a substantial increase in the output of intelligent production equipment such as industrial automatic regulating instruments and control systems and industrial robots, and intelligent products are accelerating their way into the mass consumer market. Computing power networks and new-generation communication networks are being deployed at an accelerated pace, and 10-gigabit optical networks are being piloted in communities, factories, parks, and other scenarios. As of the end of September, China's intelligent computing power scale increased 146 percent year on year.
The green transition is advancing steadily and surely. The development model continues to shift toward green, and green industries are better driving economic development and serving people's lives, becoming a "golden business card" of China's economy moving toward the new and the better. Preliminary calculations show that energy consumption per unit of value added of industry above designated size fell 4.3 percent year on year in the first three quarters, and the share of non-fossil energy consumption in total energy consumption increased 1.3 percentage points year on year. Green productivity is developing rapidly. In the first three quarters, the output of lithium-ion power batteries for automobiles above designated size increased more than 40 percent year on year. At present, of every five new energy passenger vehicles sold globally, three are made in China.
The trend of domestic demand optimization continues. The role of domestic demand as the main driver continues to be exerted, contributing 74.8 percent to economic growth in the first three quarters, of which final consumption expenditure contributed 46.7 percent. Intelligent and green consumption has become a new trend in household consumption. In the first three quarters, retail sales of wearable intelligent devices above designated size increased more than 70 percent year on year, and retail sales of high energy efficiency household appliances increased more than 20 percent. Investment in emerging fields compatible with the growth of new drivers grew relatively rapidly. In the first three quarters, investment in intellectual property products and high-tech industries achieved year-on-year growth of 9.3 percent and 4.9 percent respectively.
High-level opening up is advancing in depth. China is both the "world's factory" and the "world's market," both a "super seller" and a "super buyer." In the face of a complex external environment, China has been unswerving and resolute in expanding high-level opening up, and foreign trade has become an important driving force for economic growth. In the first three quarters, China's goods exports increased 16.4 percent year on year, of which exports of high-tech products increased 39.5 percent. Goods imports increased 22.3 percent year on year, faster than export growth, and the attractiveness of the Chinese market continues to strengthen. "China Travel" continues to win over global tourists, with the number of visa-free foreign arrivals in the third quarter increasing 24.1 percent year on year.
III. The Driving Role of Consumption Is Further Evident
Consumption is not only one of the three main drivers of an economy that drives economic growth, but also an important reflection of residents' quality of life. Since the beginning of this year, all regions and departments have deeply implemented special actions to boost consumption. China's consumer market has expanded in scale and improved in quality, and the foundational role of consumption in supporting economic growth has become further evident. In the first three quarters, total retail sales of consumer goods and services increased 2.6 percent year on year, and final consumption expenditure drove economic growth by 2.1 percentage points, making it the "primary demand driver" of economic growth.
The potential of service consumption is being unleashed. China's consumer market has entered a development stage driven by both "goods and services." From buying goods to buying services, from emphasizing practicality to emphasizing experience, service consumption has become an important engine driving consumption growth. In the first three quarters, retail sales of services increased 5.0 percent year on year, 4 percentage points faster than retail sales of goods. Cultural and tourism activities such as parent-child study tours, intangible cultural heritage experiences, and watching sports events and exhibitions have been enriched and expanded, and enthusiasm for holiday travel has risen. Frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence continue to expand the boundaries of services, and new consumption scenarios such as AI study companions and intelligent diagnosis and treatment are flourishing, helping service consumption undergo an "intelligent" transformation.
Goods consumption is upgrading in quality. At present, the stage of imitative, wave-like consumption has basically ended, and residents' demand for goods is continuously shifting from "whether it exists" to "whether it is good." Intelligent consumption, green consumption, and quality consumption are increasingly active. In the first three quarters, retail sales of upgraded goods such as communication equipment and cosmetics above designated size increased 18.1 percent and 6.1 percent year on year respectively. Wearable intelligent devices such as AI glasses, smart watches, and health wristbands are becoming increasingly popular. The concept of green and low-carbon development is more deeply rooted in people's minds, and low-carbon and environmentally friendly products are accelerating their way into the masses or countless households. In the first three quarters, retail sales of new energy passenger vehicles exceeded 7.7 million units, and retail sales of high energy efficiency household appliances grew rapidly.
New growth points for consumption continue to expand. Online retail maintained good growth momentum, and the vitality of new business forms and models increased. In the first three quarters, online retail sales of goods and services increased 4.4 percent year on year; retail sales of warehouse membership stores and unattended stores above designated size both increased more than 25 percent. With the continuous improvement of supporting facilities such as rural supermarkets, logistics and distribution, and e-commerce entering villages, the consumption potential of lower-tier markets continues to be unleashed, and the growth rate of retail sales of consumer goods in rural areas is faster than in urban areas. "China Travel" and "China Shopping" are becoming more attractive to global tourists. Since the beginning of this year, nearly 100,000 foreign tourists have entered China visa-free on average every day, inbound consumption continues to expand, and sales of tax-refunded goods have increased by about one time.
China's consumption transformation and its shift toward the new and the better represent an inevitable trend. The super-large market of more than 1.4 billion people contains huge demand at multiple levels and with differentiated characteristics. As the level of economic development and people's living standards continue to improve and the supply of goods and services is continuously optimized, the potential of China's consumer market will be further released.
IV. Prices Are Generally Showing a Moderate Recovery
The moderate recovery of prices is an important positive change in macroeconomic performance this year. In the first three quarters, CPI rose 0.9 percent year on year, an increase from both the same period last year and the full year of last year; the producer price index for industrial products (PPI) rose 2.3 percent, rising year on year for seven consecutive months since exiting the downward range in March.
Against the backdrop of increasing global inflationary pressure and rising prices in major economies, the relatively moderate price increase in China is mainly attributable to three factors. First, energy security is ensured through coordination between domestic and external sources, providing confidence in energy security. China has focused on both independent production and diversified imports, effectively ensuring the supply of basic energy. In the first three quarters, crude oil output, natural gas output, and power generation of industry above designated size all hit record highs for the same period, and domestic energy price increases were far smaller than those in the international energy market. Second, the resilience of industrial and supply chains is strong, providing support for market supply. China has the most complete range of manufacturing categories and the most complete system in the world, with smooth coordination between upstream and downstream. In the face of external market fluctuations and rising international commodity prices, the production side can respond quickly and adjust dynamically, reducing to a certain extent the impact of imported factors on domestic prices. Third, policies for ensuring supply and stabilizing prices are effective and forceful, providing a guarantee for price stability. Relevant departments have continuously kept a close eye on key areas such as important livelihood commodities, flexibly used reserve adjustments, and orderly implemented temporary price control measures for refined oil products, effectively ensuring market supply and price stability.
Prices reflect the fundamentals of supply and demand. The current round of price recovery is driven both by the transmission of international imported factors and by the improvement of domestic supply and demand relations. In terms of consumer prices, the deep implementation of special actions to boost consumption and the continuous optimization of market competition order have driven up prices of some industrial consumer goods and supported the moderate recovery of core CPI. In the first three quarters, core CPI excluding food and energy prices rose 1.1 percent year on year, with the increase expanding by 0.5 percentage points from the same period last year. In terms of producer prices, the accelerated development of fields such as artificial intelligence and computing-power-electricity coordination has driven increased demand and higher prices in related industries. In the first three quarters, three industries—smelting and pressing of non-ferrous metals, manufacture of electrical machinery and equipment, and manufacture of computers, communication and other electronic equipment—together pulled up PPI by about 2 percentage points.
The current moderate recovery of prices reflects positive changes in China's supply and demand relations and is conducive to promoting the smooth circulation of the national economy and consolidating the foundation for stable economic operation. It should also be noted that some industries and some enterprises still face certain difficulties in production and operation. As various policies for stabilizing growth and expanding domestic demand are implemented and take effect, market supply and demand relations are expected to continue to improve, and the positive role of moderate price recovery in corporate performance and economic circulation will become further evident.
V. Economic Development Toward the Better Has a Solid Foundation
In the first three quarters, China's economy withstood pressure, overcame difficulties, and achieved stable growth, showing a development trend of new drivers and improved structure. In the next stage, China's economy still faces pressure in maintaining stable operation, the international environment is complex and severe, domestic tasks of reform, development, and stability maintenance are arduous, and the prominent contradiction of strong supply and weak demand still needs to be addressed with greater effort. However, it should be noted that the super-large market and the complete industrial system will continue to play an important role in stabilizing the fundamentals of the economy, the supporting conditions for the stable operation of China's economy have not changed, and the internal logic of long-term improvement has not changed.
First, the pattern of "stability" has been effectively maintained. Economic operation is a dynamic process with a certain degree of continuity. Against the backdrop of intertwined risks and challenges, China's economy demonstrated strong resilience and vitality in the first three quarters, laying a good foundation for achieving the main expected goals for the full year and injecting certainty and stability into the world economy.
Second, the factors of "improvement" are accumulating and increasing. Since the third quarter, major indicators have shown positive changes. The year-on-year GDP growth rate in the third quarter was 0.2 percentage points faster than in the second quarter. In September, the growth rates of most macro indicators accelerated compared with July and August. The growth rate of value added of industry above designated size rebounded to 5.5 percent, accelerating for two consecutive months, and the growth rates of the services production index and total retail sales of consumer goods both accelerated by 0.7 percentage points from the previous month. These positive changes are accumulating and increasing, which is conducive to better economic development in the next stage.
Third, the drivers of "newness" are continuously accumulating. At present, new drivers characterized by scientific and technological innovation and industrial upgrading are becoming an important driving force for China's economic growth. Frontier technologies such as large artificial intelligence models are iterating at an accelerated pace, the cumulative global downloads of open-source AI large models have exceeded 10 billion, humanoid robot shipments account for more than 90 percent of the global total, the production and sales of new energy vehicles remain the world's largest, and fields such as innovative drugs are developing rapidly. The Chinese story of innovation continues to be written.
Since the beginning of this year, China's economy has maintained stable operation and continued to develop toward the new, the better, and the good, which is inseparable from forceful and effective macroeconomic policies. At present, the forward-looking, targeted, and coordinated nature of China's macroeconomic policies is continuously strengthening, and the policy toolbox is well stocked. As countercyclical adjustment is intensified, existing policies further enhance their implementation effectiveness, practical and effective incremental policies are being rolled out one after another, and the synergistic effects of various policies continue to emerge, which will further activate new drivers of high-quality development and inject more lasting momentum into economic development.
Author: Member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Commissioner of the National Bureau of Statistics
Return to TopBy: 求是杂志社经济编辑部、国家发展改革委产业所联合课题组
In-Depth Investigation
Brain-Computer Interface Industry Survey: How Far Is It from Real-World Productivity?
Joint Research Group of the Qiushi Magazine Economic Editorial Department and the Industrial Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission
The brain-computer interface is an important breakthrough point in the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, and it is also a strategic commanding height for China to lay out future industries and achieve high-level self-reliance and strength in science and technology. At present, brain-computer interfaces are surging from laboratory concepts to the clinical and industrial front lines at an unprecedented speed. Musk has put forward the thesis of "semi-immortality," subjects of Neuralink have used brain-computer interfaces to type 75 words per minute with their minds, and McKinsey research reports believe that over the next 10-20 years the global brain-computer interface industry will generate US$70-200 billion in economic value each year. In China, the world's first invasive brain-computer interface medical device has been approved for market, the world's first commercial implantation surgery was completed at Huashan Hospital affiliated with Fudan University, favorable policies have been intensively rolled out in many localities, and various types of capital are racing to enter the market (竞相入局, jing xiang ru ju - "compete, one after another, enter"). When can scientific and technological achievements truly be transformed into real-world productivity, and how far away from us are brain-computer interfaces after all? With this question, we followed the paths of scientific frontiers, engineering technology, industrial investment, and governance and regulation, and went deep into research institutes, clinical wards, leading enterprises, and regulatory departments to conduct our investigation.
I. The "Distance" of Science: Returning from Cyberpunk Science Fiction to the Real World
To discuss the distance of brain-computer interfaces, one must first draw the boundaries of scientific understanding. In plain terms, a brain-computer interface establishes a direct information pathway between the brain and external devices, bypassing the conduction pathways of muscles and nerves, using "thinking" to manipulate machines, while the machine's feedback is also transmitted directly to the brain. In 2023, a research team from Tsinghua University completed China's first wireless minimally invasive brain-computer interface human implantation surgery, successfully enabling a patient with quadriplegia to pick up a water bottle and take a drink by himself. Technological revolutions in human history have essentially been extensional expansions of human functions, such as the steam engine replacing human labor, electricity reshaping production, the internet shortening the spatiotemporal distance of information transmission, and artificial intelligence extending human capabilities in computation, perception, and decision-making. The brain-computer interface, for the first time, extends the technological probe toward the human body itself, directly translating neural activity into machine-executable instructions, allowing humanity to begin "reading" and "writing" its own brain in an engineering manner. This is a tremendous leap in human civilization from transforming the world to understanding oneself. But it is precisely this big step that has led some people to feel "one step away from immortality."
Are the "semi-immortality" statements of "the Musks of this world" scientific judgments or commercial narratives? During the investigation, an expert told us, "To imagine the human brain as a computer running code, and to imagine consciousness as data that can be copied, migrated, and backed up—at least at the current stage, this does not hold in neuroscience." The human brain has approximately 86 billion neurons, and what humanity has truly "understood" at the level of brain function so far is only an extremely limited segment, such as the motor cortex, parts of the language pathways, and the visual pathways; it has not yet entered the depths of cognition, emotion, memory, and self-awareness. Equating the demonstrations of individual subjects with breakthroughs in scientific principles, and equating the success of motor function compensation with victory in decoding brain consciousness, are problems that need to be guarded against at the current stage.
Judging the scientific distance of brain-computer interfaces ultimately requires returning to the anchor of value. At the current stage, the value of brain-computer interfaces should be anchored in treating diseases and saving lives, anchored in the real and urgent clinical needs of tens of millions of patients with Alzheimer's disease, autism, post-stroke dysfunction, Parkinson's disease, and treatment-resistant depression, as well as millions of patients with spinal cord injury, and anchored in their simple aspirations to regain the ability to live independently and to regain human dignity.
II. The "Distance" of Engineering: Turning Experimental Parameters into Clinical Commitments to Life
Beyond the boundaries of science lies the test of engineering reliability. Between a technology being "demonstrable" and being "prescribable, follow-up-able, and covered by medical insurance," there is more than one mountain to cross.
During the investigation at Boruikang Medical Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., the company's person in charge introduced that its implantable brain-computer interface hand motor function compensation system places electrodes on the outer layer of the dura mater, without directly penetrating brain tissue, which can reduce surgical trauma while obtaining cortical signals usable for motor intention decoding. In March 2026, this system obtained the Class III medical device registration certificate from the National Medical Products Administration; in July of the same year, Huashan Hospital affiliated with Fudan University issued the first clinical prescription for the product after it came to market, completing the world's first clinical implantation surgery of an approved invasive brain-computer interface product. It declares to the world that brain-computer interfaces need not wait for a distant "ultimate form"; within the intersection of existing engineering capabilities, regulatory frameworks, and clinical trials, they can already become products that are registrable, prescribable, and chargeable.
Just a few years ago, invasive brain-computer interfaces remained at the laboratory prototype stage. Today, they are accelerating their application in real-world scenarios, presenting a situation of advancing along "three tracks" simultaneously. Invasive devices achieve stable neural signal acquisition in the human body, semi-invasive products have taken the lead in China in running through the commercialization path, and the non-invasive route is also spreading large-scale applications in rehabilitation, assessment, and intervention scenarios. At the same time, disputes over technological routes have always existed—invasive, semi-invasive, or non-invasive: which is superior after all? The investigation found that discussing the superiority of routes divorced from specific indications, patient benefits, risk-benefit ratios, and the strength of clinical evidence is itself a false proposition. Invasive and semi-invasive approaches have advantages in signal acquisition—for example, Shanghai Ladder Medical Technology Co., Ltd. has to date completed 42 cases of long-term implantation—but constrained by surgical risks, long-term stability, and strong regulation, their development space is currently still limited. Non-invasive approaches are highly safe, convenient to use, relatively controllable in cost, and applicable to a broad population, making them the "broad, light, and fast" choice in scenarios such as rehabilitation training, brain function assessment, and cognitive impairment intervention—for example, Danyang Huichuang Medical Equipment Co., Ltd., which takes the optical route, has had its equipment enter more than 1,000 Class III Grade A hospitals and research institutions nationwide—but non-invasive approaches still face bottlenecks in signal resolution, signal-to-noise ratio, and the degree of model individualization. The three routes are not substitutes for one another, but rather differentiated paths oriented toward different diseases and different clinical stages.
Between being "usable" under laboratory conditions and being "reliable" in clinical scenarios lies the distance of engineering. Brain-computer interfaces cannot bypass the laws of medicine; early feasibility studies, concept validation, and prototype demonstrations are all merely starting points. What truly determines whether a technology can enter the clinical medical system, the medical insurance payment system, and the market system is clinical trial evidence from large samples, standardized protocols, and long-term follow-up. This threshold requires signals that are clear, stable, safe, and minimally invasive; devices that can work continuously in the intracranial environment for years without drifting, causing inflammation, or failing; and algorithms that are both advanced and clinically explainable, and that can withstand item-by-item scrutiny in quality systems and registration review. This distance must ultimately be measured by patient safety and benefit.
III. The "Distance" of Industry: Seeing Clearly the Capital Heat and the Industrial Ecosystem
2026 has been called by the market the first year of the brain-computer interface, with calls of "brain science revolution" and "metaverse gateway" constantly heard (不绝于耳, bu jue yu er - "not, cease, at, ear"), and startup valuations doubling one after another. Is this the discovery of industrial value, or another capital bubble?
The investigation found that two misjudgments must be avoided regarding the brain-computer interface industry. First, simply extrapolating from the sales of a few current products would seriously underestimate the industry's development potential. In the short term, brain-computer interface devices are still in the stages of clinical validation, product registration, and scenario cultivation, with the market size measured only in the tens of billions of yuan; in the medium and long term, as application scenarios such as diagnosis and treatment of major brain diseases, neural rehabilitation, functional compensation, and interventional therapy mature, brain-computer interfaces will no longer be merely a medical device track, but will spill over into fields such as education and training, industrial safety, human-machine collaboration, and emotional cognition, gradually growing into a platform-type future industry covering "assessment—diagnosis—intervention—rehabilitation—long-term management." Second, using capital heat to infer backward the maturity of technology and products would likewise cause misjudgment. In the first half of 2026, domestic brain-computer interface track financing exceeded 60 rounds with a disclosed total of more than 7 billion yuan, but the top ten projects took away more than 60% of the funds, with resources highly concentrated toward the leading players. Overseas, Neuralink has to date not had a single commercialized product and has no revenue, yet its implied valuation in the private secondary market once exceeded US$42 billion. An investor said bluntly: "Business models have not yet taken shape, payment pathways are not yet clear, and physician and patient awareness has yet to be cultivated—these are all hurdles that the industrialization of brain-computer interfaces cannot bypass."
The brain-computer interface is a hard technology industry with long cycles, strong regulation, and a heavy emphasis on evidence. Electrodes working stably in the body for more than five years cannot be bought with financing speed; the resilience of the entire industrial chain is the key. For example, whether upstream key substrate materials for flexible electrodes and low-noise analog front-end chips are technologically mature and gradually self-reliant, and whether prototype development would come to a halt if core components were cut off; whether midstream device integration and algorithms can move from "demonstrable" to "mass-producible, quality-controllable, and deliverable" as soon as possible; whether downstream clinical evidence, payment capacity, and real-world data form a closed loop, and whether the prosperity of the application layer is built on a foundation of independent controllability; whether capital is willing to shift from "investing in the fast" to "investing early, investing small, investing long-term, and investing in hard technology," allowing products with clinical value to traverse the long cycle from registration to volume scaling. If these problems are not solved and a sound innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem is not established, the distance to industrialization will be difficult to shorten.
IV. The "Distance" of Governance: Balancing Technological Innovation and the Bottom Line of Life
Brain-computer interfaces directly touch the brain, and the distance of governance is often more difficult to cross than the distance of technology. During the investigation, the compliance director of an enterprise showed us a draft informed consent form, in which the three option boxes under the "neural data ownership" column were all empty. He admitted to us frankly: "This is not something a single enterprise can decide. But the problem we face now is that if the rules are not made clear, patients dare not sign, and capital dares not invest." A comrade from a drug regulatory department said: "The traditional approach is that you explain the mechanism thoroughly and control the risks to death, and then I issue the certificate. But brain-computer interfaces are a rapidly iterating technology; by the time it is fully explained, the window of opportunity may have closed."
During the investigation, some specific risks were repeatedly mentioned. Patients in a "vegetative state" or with locked-in syndrome find it difficult to express themselves autonomously, and the system of surrogate informed consent is not yet well established—who has the right to consent, on behalf of a person who cannot speak, to having a permanent device implanted in the brain? From collection to storage to destruction of neural data, who should manage the entire process, and who should be held accountable when problems occur? The boundary between treatment and enhancement cannot be fully clarified—when devices upgrade from restoring function to enhancing function, should medical insurance pay? Once external signals can be "written" into the nervous system, how should philosophical and ethical issues such as cognitive manipulation, personality alienation, and privacy of thought be resolved? These problems will not automatically disappear as technology matures. On the contrary, if they are not properly resolved, they will slow the development of the industry.
China has already achieved major breakthroughs at the institutional level. China took the lead in drafting the "Information Technology—Brain-Computer Interface—Terminology," systematically sorting out 126 terms in 8 major categories in the brain-computer interface field, taking an important step in global rule-building; issued the "Ethical Guidelines for Brain-Computer Interface Research," explicitly requiring "maximum protection of the structural, functional, and spiritual-mental integrity of the human brain"; and Shenzhen and other localities have actively explored classified and graded protection of brain data and separate written authorization for brain data collection. But overall, these norms remain mainly at the level of research ethics and local pilots, and there is still a lack of legally binding specialized rules for neural data, as well as a lack of a classified and graded regulatory framework covering the entire chain of "research—clinical—industrial application."
During the investigation, we deeply felt that governance must not be the antithesis of innovation, but should rather become the solid foundation of stable expectations, clear boundaries, and social trust that innovation requires. The supply of rules is itself an important component of industrial competitiveness. Brain-computer interface governance must firmly hold the bottom lines of life safety, human dignity, data ownership, and cognitive freedom, making no exceptions for surrogate informed consent, separate authorization for neural data, and prohibition of consciousness manipulation, while at the same time not making the complete clarification of mechanisms an absolute precondition for regulatory approval. Just as more than half a century has passed since the discovery of artemisinin and its deep mechanisms are still being studied, this has not prevented it from saving countless lives. For fields such as brain-computer interfaces that are clinically urgent, technologically original, and complex to regulate, departments such as health, drug administration, and medical insurance should shift from administrative approvers to collaborative innovation facilitators, intervening early and providing coordinated guidance in review, coding, and payment linkage, promoting the continuous accumulation of clinical evidence, the continuous improvement of evaluation standards, and the continuous deepening of basic research, leaping out of the two extremes of "develop first, govern later" and "approve only after full understanding," and blazing a new path of bottom lines set in advance, inclusive and prudent, growing together with the industry.
V. The Road Ahead: Coordinated Efforts to Let Brain-Computer Interfaces Respond to the Expectations of Life
Science, engineering, industry, and governance are not four parallel lines, but four sets of interlocking gears. Scientific research explores the boundary of "what can be read," engineering reliability affects "how long it can remain stable," the industrial system determines "whether it can be mass-produced and independently manufactured," and governance rules weigh "whether society dares to use it." If engineering cannot overcome long-term stability, clinical practice will not dare to scale up, and products will not enter medical insurance; if industry has no real revenue to feed back into R&D, enterprises will not survive until the next generation of devices matures; if governance is absent, previous achievements may lose public trust in a single privacy leak; if regulation is too rigid, new major products will not be able to enter the market in time, and tens of millions of patients will not receive timely treatment. The concept of the brain-computer interface was proposed as early as the 1970s, and around 2000 related experiments had already achieved monkeys controlling robotic arms, but it was only in the last three to five years that brain-computer interfaces truly became hot. The fundamental reason is that the conditions in science and technology, engineering, industry, and governance have all tended to mature, and the window for development has gradually opened.
As a disruptive technology integrating life sciences and information science, the development level of brain-computer interfaces bears on a country's core competitiveness in frontier fields. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the state has listed brain-computer interfaces as a key future industry direction for layout, striving to accelerate the transformation of its scientific and technological achievements into real-world productivity. Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Tianjin, Zhejiang, Hubei, and other localities are accelerating their layouts in light of local conditions, and a number of enterprises and products have entered the world's forefront in commercial application. After the first invasive brain-computer interface medical device was approved for market, it received medical insurance coding from the National Healthcare Security Administration within days, reflecting the systematic coordination of registration review, clinical application, and payment linkage. The optical brain-computer interface and multimodal fusion technology developed by Danyang Huichuang Medical Equipment Co., Ltd. has supported leading medical institutions such as Beijing Tiantan Hospital and Wuhan Tongji Hospital in advancing the construction of brain-computer interface outpatient clinics and wards, providing implementable technical support for the assessment and intervention of major diseases such as stroke, disorders of consciousness, and cognitive impairment. Relying on its ultra-large-scale medical and health demand, multi-center clinical research capabilities, complete industrial supporting system, rich clinical scenarios, and the institutional advantage of concentrating resources to accomplish major tasks (集中力量办大事, ji zhong li liang ban da shi - "concentrate, strength, do, big, matters"), China has at present overall formed a pattern in brain-computer interfaces of catching up in some segments, running alongside in multiple fields, and accelerating to lead in several directions, possessing the industrial foundation to move from technological breakthroughs to product breakthroughs and from single-point innovation to systemic leadership. But at the same time, the potential advantages of the industry have not yet been fully transformed into industrial competitiveness—for example, upstream core devices and key materials have a relatively high degree of external dependence, interdisciplinary composite talent is scarce, real-world evidence accumulates slowly, and brain science data from various hospitals, laboratories, and enterprises is difficult to legally connect, share across institutions, and utilize at scale, so the dividend of clinical samples has not been fully released.
In the next step, we should coordinate scientific exploration, engineering validation, industrial transformation, and governance adaptation as a whole, make every effort to break through key technologies and industrialization bottlenecks, and accelerate the formation of a complete innovation ecosystem and institutional system. First, use clinical value to guide industrial development. Centering on major brain diseases and refractory mental illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease, autism, Parkinson's disease, paraplegia from spinal cord injury, chronic disorders of consciousness, and treatment-resistant depression, define product specifications and clinical endpoints throughout the entire process from assessment and diagnosis to interventional treatment and rehabilitation management, so that innovation always revolves around patient benefit. Second, concentrate efforts to break through common key technologies. Focus on electrodes, chips, and key materials to build a solid foundation of independent controllability, adhere to the coordinated development of electrical, magnetic, optical, and acoustic routes with scenario-specific adaptation, let invasive and semi-invasive approaches respectively prove themselves "deep, precise, and stable" in critical care medicine and functional compensation, and let optical and other non-invasive routes demonstrate "broad, light, and fast" characteristics in rehabilitation, interventional treatment, and assessment. Third, break through the "data silos." Establish at the national level institutional arrangements for classified and graded, desensitized sharing and compliant circulation of brain science data, support the construction of multi-center clinical research alliances and real-world data platforms, and transform the advantage of ultra-large-scale clinical samples into a source supply of original discoveries and clinical evidence. Fourth, strengthen the principal position of enterprises in technological innovation. Incorporate departments such as health, drug administration, and medical insurance into the collaborative mechanism of innovation consortia, build an innovation ecosystem led by enterprises, with collaboration among industry, academia, research, medicine, and application, and deep participation by regulatory departments, and use a governance approach of "bottom lines + sandbox + dynamic iteration" so that regulation both holds the bottom line of safety and effectiveness and provides a stable and predictable institutional environment for innovation.
Investigation Notes:
The brain-computer interface is an international major frontier technology and a commanding height of industrial competition. How far it is from forming real-world productivity, no one can give a clear timetable. For a patient with total paralysis, being able today to use the mind to make a pneumatic glove complete one grasp—this is near; but for those who want to upload consciousness to the cloud, this road is still so far that the end cannot be seen. For humanity, we have already taken a key step, touching our own brains in an engineering manner for the first time, and using brain-computer interfaces for the first time to soothe the pain of more than ten million patients. We are also aware that science is an endless frontier; the boundaries of cognition, the limits of reliability, convenient products, and complete rules are all still far away. But what is certain is that we have never been waiting for a perfect solution to descend upon us, but rather are repeatedly weighing trade-offs among signal clarity, implantation safety, device lifespan, and algorithm generalization, solely so that patients can have one more grasp, one more expression, and one more measure of dignity as early as possible. Anchored in the needs of people's health, the urgency of clinical transformation, and the direction of future industries, making the brain-computer interface a landmark future industry of the 15th Five-Year Plan period has always been the direction in which we move forward.
Writers: Guo Feiran, Liu Quanhong, Liu Zhenzhong, Shu Yu
Return to TopBy: 郭春丽
Striving to Promote the Formation of a New Economic Development Model
Guo Chunli
This year marks the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan. China's economy has overall continued its development trend of maintaining steady progress (稳中有进, wen zhong you jin - "stable, with progress") and moving toward the new and the superior, with faster replacement of old growth drivers by new ones, performing prominently among the world's major economies. In particular, against the backdrop of deepening adverse external impacts superimposed with domestic cyclical and structural problems, GDP in the first three quarters reached 107.1 trillion yuan, up 4.6 percent year on year at constant prices — a growth rate that both conforms to the potential economic growth rate and meets the expected target for annual economic growth.The GDP increment in the first three quarters was 5.7 trillion yuan, the largest increment for the same period in the past five years, demonstrating the strong resilience, shock-resistance, and self-adjustment capacity of China's economy. At the same time, macroeconomic operations have exhibited structural characteristics of strong supply and weak demand, strong new drivers and weak old ones, and strong external and weak internal performance. Looking through phenomena to grasp the essence, behind the overall stability with progress in aggregate terms lies a structure that needs optimization, and the key to structural optimization is precisely striving to promote the transformation of the economic development model.
I. Strong Supply and Weak Demand Is the Prominent Contradiction Currently Constraining the Stable Operation of China's Economy
Scientifically assessing the situation is the prerequisite for doing economic work well. The Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of 2025 made the major judgment that the contradiction of strong domestic supply and weak demand is prominent, and made relevant arrangements for economic work in 2026, emphasizing the need to strengthen confidence, make good use of advantages, respond to challenges, and continuously consolidate and expand the momentum of steady improvement in the economy. Since the beginning of this year, the Party Central Committee has attached great importance to the contradiction of strong supply and weak demand in economic operations and the series of problems arising therefrom, adhered to coordinating both domestic and international situations, effectively responded to various external shocks and internal difficulties, solidly promoted high-quality development, and driven China's economy to continue developing toward the new, the superior, and the better.However, judging from the current situation, resolving the contradiction of strong supply and weak demand will still take time, and for a period it will remain a prominent problem constraining the circulation of the national economy.
Strong supply and weak demand is not a new phenomenon. Since reform and opening up, China has on multiple occasions encountered the problem of declining economic growth. In the early 1980s, in order to reverse the serious imbalance in the national economy, the state implemented the policy of "adjustment, reform, rectification, and improvement," cutting back capital construction and tightening fiscal policy, and economic growth fell briefly. At the turn of the century, under the combined impact of the Asian financial crisis, state-owned enterprise reform, and employment pressure, China experienced deflation lasting several years, with exports obstructed and domestic demand weak. The international financial crisis that broke out in 2008 caused external demand to contract abruptly, exports to decline sharply, and the economy to suffer a severe shock. These several episodes of economic downturn had different causes, but all stabilized and recovered relatively quickly under the combined effect of counter-cyclical adjustment and the pull of investment and exports, and we thereby accumulated rich experience in macroeconomic regulation.
But the contradiction of strong supply and weak demand in current economic operations has characteristics different from before: the economic growth downturn has lasted longer, the marginal effect of traditional regulatory tools is diminishing, and pressure to stabilize growth continues to intensify. It is not that policy intensity is insufficient, but that the development stage has already shifted, while the traditional economic development model that relies on the input of resources and factors to drive growth has not yet fully transformed into place, and to a certain extent still plays a role in some fields and some regions. This development model had its rationality and inevitability over a long period in the past. For example, without large-scale production, it would have been impossible to meet basic living needs; without export earnings of foreign exchange, it would have been impossible to obtain technology and equipment; without high-intensity investment, it would have been impossible to build up the industrial system and modern infrastructure. But today, as China's development environment and development conditions have undergone profound changes, the adverse impact of the traditional economic development model on the efficiency of economic operations and the quality of development is becoming increasingly prominent.
First, the orientation of emphasizing production over distribution has not yet been fundamentally reversed. In the era of a shortage economy, production first and consumption later was an unavoidable choice. Under a fiscal and tax system dominated by indirect taxes and a local competition pattern that uses GDP as the primary yardstick, resources being tilted toward the production end has inherent incentives. After supply becomes abundant, if resource allocation still overemphasizes production investment and neglects residents' income and livelihood security, it will suppress consumption from both the income and security ends simultaneously: the share of labor remuneration is difficult to raise, and residents' consumption capacity is constrained; shortcomings in public services such as elderly care, medical care, and education are prominent, and residents' willingness to consume is insufficient, leading to an imbalance between supply and demand.
Second, the export-oriented characteristic remains evident. Embedding industry into the global division of labor by relying on low-cost advantages is a common path for the economic takeoff of late-developing countries, and economies such as Japan and South Korea all experienced this stage. But if enterprises' capacity configuration and market development prioritize overseas markets over the long term and respond insufficiently to domestic demand, and product iteration follows external demand orders more than domestic consumer preferences, then domestic demand will find it difficult to fully develop. Once external demand contracts, the capacity previously formed around external demand will be exposed in concentrated form as the contradiction of supply exceeding demand.
Third, the investment-driven mindset is still at work. Investment has a dual attribute: during the construction period it forms demand, and after completion it turns into supply. In the early stage of industrialization and urbanization, investment was both a means of driving growth and necessary for filling development shortcomings; but when infrastructure tends toward completion and industrialization enters its later stage, if the path of large-scale investment focused mainly on expanding capacity is still followed, newly built projects will continuously be converted into new capacity, while the slowdown of urbanization, the peaking of the total population, and the deepening of aging make it difficult for demand increments to expand in step, and the supply-demand gap moves from latent to manifest. The problem is not investment itself, but what to invest in, how to invest, whether investment is effective, and whether it can better play a role in filling shortcomings, promoting consumption, and improving efficiency.
Fourth, the inertia of scale expansion still exists. In the long period in the past, the primary task was to solve the problem of "whether there is something," and scale expansion taking priority over efficiency improvement and quality enhancement was reasonable; when the demand structure shifts from subsistence-oriented to development-oriented and enjoyment-oriented, if the supply end still operates according to the logic of large scale, low cost, and homogeneity, while the demand end has already shifted toward high quality and personalization, the mismatch between supply and demand will deepen. This is not a simple aggregate problem, but a structural problem in which the adjustment of the supply structure cannot keep up with the upgrading of the demand structure.
The above four aspects interact with one another and, to a certain extent, have jointly formed the prominent problem of strong supply and weak demand at the current stage that constrains stable economic operations and high-quality development. It can thus be seen that the crux of the contradiction of strong supply and weak demand in current economic operations is not absolute oversupply, but the coexistence of an oversupply of inefficient supply and a shortage of high-quality supply; nor is it an absolute lack of demand, but the insufficient development of demand with the ability to pay, which fundamentally reflects the mismatch between the supply structure and the demand structure, and between supply capacity and demand capacity, under the traditional economic development model. Therefore, the fundamental path to resolving the contradiction of strong supply and weak demand at present lies in accelerating the transformation of the economic development model, which is not only directly related to the sustainability of China's economic growth, but is also a strategic choice bearing on the overall modernization of China.
II. The Fundamental Way to Resolve the Contradiction of Strong Supply and Weak Demand Lies in Striving to Promote the Formation of a New Economic Development Model
To resolve the contradiction of strong supply and weak demand, it is necessary both to see its systematic impact that affects the overall situation and to identify the strategic breakthrough point that can drive the overall situation. This breakthrough point is precisely striving to promote the formation of a new economic development model and casting off dependence on the traditional development path. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party explicitly proposed "promoting the formation of more economic development models that are dominated by domestic demand, driven by consumption, and characterized by endogenous growth." This new economic development model is not a general policy adjustment, but a fundamental solution formulated on the basis of China's economic development stage transition and in direct response to the prominent contradiction of strong supply and weak demand; it is the fundamental direction and strategic blueprint for future economic development. The new model works in concert from three dimensions — the economic cycle, the supply-demand structure, and the driving mechanism — using domestic-demand dominance to build the framework of the economic cycle and provide market space for consumption expansion and innovation transformation; using consumption-driven growth to activate the main engine of economic growth and resolve the supply-demand mismatch in the process of continuously absorbing capacity; and using innovation-driven endogenous growth to reshape the long-term driving mechanism and enhance the sustainability of economic development. The synergy of the three can break the negative transmission chain of "external demand dependence — insufficient domestic demand — overcapacity — supply-demand imbalance," provide an effective path for resolving the contradiction of strong supply and weak demand, and build a major-country economic system with balanced supply and demand, innovation-driven growth, and unimpeded circulation.
Judging from the laws of development of major countries, the larger the economy, the more necessary it is to make expanding domestic demand the strategic basis of development. General Secretary Xi Jinping has profoundly pointed out that "in today's world, the most scarce resource is the market" and "the advantage of a major country's economy is that it can circulate internally." China has a population of more than 1.4 billion and a middle-income group of more than 400 million. In 2025, domestic demand contributed more than 67 percent to economic growth, and final consumption expenditure contributed 52 percent, further highlighting the role of consumption as the main driver and stabilizer of economic growth. The super-large market is our greatest confidence and most solid support in responding to changes in the situation. At present, the once-in-a-century transformation of the world is accelerating, international competition is more complex and intense, and the stability of the external environment is declining, requiring us to place more of the foothold of development on opening up the domestic market and relying on our own strength.
Domestic-demand dominance means smoothing the economic cycle. Its essence lies in changing the habitual thinking of over-reliance on external demand, promoting production, distribution, circulation, and consumption to rely more on the domestic market, and keeping the initiative in development in our own hands. The echeloned demand among urban and rural areas, regions, and different income groups can continuously accommodate enormous capacity. When the domestic market becomes the main channel, the focus of macroeconomic policy can shift more toward increasing residents' income, social security, and the construction of the circulation system. It must be emphasized that domestic-demand dominance by no means equals closed operation. A strong domestic market will form a gravitational field for global capital, technology, talent, and goods, achieving two-way empowerment between domestic demand expansion and foreign trade quality improvement. In this sense, the new economic development model and the new development pattern are intrinsically unified and mutually supportive. Building the new development pattern with the domestic major cycle as the mainstay and domestic and international dual circulation reinforcing each other focuses on reshaping the economic circulation system and solving the problem of "who is the mainstay of circulation." Promoting the formation of an economic development model dominated by domestic demand, driven by consumption, and characterized by endogenous growth focuses on reshaping the driving mechanism and solving the problem of "what drives growth." The pattern focuses on shaping the form; the model focuses on laying the foundation. Only when the pattern is established can the model have support; only when the model is transformed can the pattern truly be unimpeded.
Consumption-driven growth means straightening out the supply-demand relationship. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that "final consumption is the lasting driving force of economic growth." Consumption is the end point of the cycle and also a new starting point. In 2025, China's final consumption expenditure accounted for 56.9 percent of GDP. The long-term low household consumption rate is both a structural shortcoming and room for growth. Consumption expansion directly absorbs existing capacity, and consumption upgrading forces industries to eliminate inefficient supply. Investment that matches consumption upgrading in turn gives rise to new scenarios in digital, green, and health-and-elderly-care fields, forming a mutually reinforcing mechanism in which consumption leads investment and investment creates new consumption. We must combine boosting consumption with optimizing the national income distribution pattern and improving the social security system, so that residents have stable income and can consume, have no worries and dare to consume, and enjoy a favorable consumption environment and are willing to consume — only then can supply-demand balance have a solid micro-foundation.
Endogenous growth means reshaping the driving mechanism. The core is to raise total factor productivity by relying on scientific and technological innovation and market-based reform of factor allocation. The super-large domestic demand market can form a positive feedback loop of "scale — division of labor — innovation": the vast domestic market can spread out R&D investment costs and provide massive application scenarios for the development of new quality productive forces such as artificial intelligence, new energy, and biomedicine. Under the traction of domestic demand, resource factors withdraw in an orderly manner from surplus fields and concentrate in innovative industries, driving corporate profits and labor remuneration to rise in tandem and feeding back into consumption expansion. Once the chain of "supply efficiency improvement — residents' income increase — consumption expansion" is opened up, innovation dividends can be converted into domestic demand increments.
To strive to promote the formation of a new economic development model, it is necessary to grasp three pairs of relationships well: domestic-demand dominance does not mean not valuing openness, but rather attracting global resource factors through the mutual reinforcement of domestic and international dual circulation; consumption-driven growth does not mean not valuing investment, but rather using consumption as final demand to lead effective investment; endogenous growth does not mean not valuing the role of the government, but rather enabling the effective market and the enabling government to combine better. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized that "expanding domestic demand concerns both economic stability and economic security; it is not an expedient measure but a strategic move." The "newness" of the new economic development model lies not in negating the past, but in transcending dependence on the traditional development path and reconstructing the operating logic of China's economy from the levels of the economic cycle, the supply-demand structure, and the driving mechanism.
III. Striving to Promote the Formation of a New Economic Development Model in Deepening Reform
To promote a fundamental transformation of the traditional economic development model and promote the formation of more economic development models dominated by domestic demand, driven by consumption, and characterized by endogenous growth, it is necessary to carry out deep-level reform in the economic and social fields. Since the 20th National Congress of the Party, the Party Central Committee, focusing on the practical challenges facing the promotion of high-quality economic development on the new journey, has drawn up a grand blueprint for further deepening reform in an all-round way. The key now is how to effectively translate this blueprint into practical and operable reform measures. Specifically with respect to the transformation of the economic development model, it is necessary to target the institutional and mechanistic crux behind the economic phenomenon of strong supply and weak demand, proceed from smoothing the economic cycle, optimizing the supply-demand structure, and shaping the driving mechanism, and use breakthroughs in reform in key areas to strive to promote the formation of a new economic development model and continuously improve the overall quality and efficiency of the operation of the national economy.
Smooth the economic cycle and let domestic-demand dominance build a solid foundation for development. The key to domestic-demand dominance lies in clearing the bottlenecks and blockages in the domestic major cycle, so that factors can flow, existing assets can be activated, and localities have incentives. First, deepen the construction of the unified national market in an all-round way. Promote the unification of basic market system rules, improve the statistical, fiscal and tax, and assessment systems conducive to the construction of the unified national market, improve cross-regional benefit-sharing mechanisms, improve integrated and interconnected circulation rules and standards, and reduce the logistics costs of the whole society. Second, advance reforms for revitalizing existing assets and disposing of risks. Support the acquisition of existing commercial housing for use as affordable housing, advance the confirmation of rights and pricing of data assets and green assets, make good use of the policy for swapping implicit debt of local governments, advance the revitalization and sharing of existing state-owned assets of administrative and public institutions nationwide, and turn "dead assets" lying idle into "living capital" that can circulate and generate returns. Third, deepen the reform of the fiscal and tax systems. Advance the shift of the collection link of the consumption tax backward and its steady downward allocation to local governments, improve the fiscal transfer payment system, optimize the evaluation of performance in official work, and promote local governments to shift from merely emphasizing GDP to placing equal emphasis on promoting growth and increasing revenue, benefiting people's livelihoods, and expanding consumption.
Optimize the supply-demand structure and let consumption-driven growth unleash development potential. Emphasizing consumption-driven growth means letting consumption, as final demand, lead investment and form effective supply, so that residents can consume, supply can keep up, and investment can be more effective. First, strive to enhance residents' consumption capacity. Coordinate employment promotion, income increase, and expectation stabilization, deeply implement actions to stabilize jobs, expand capacity, and improve quality, raise the share of residents' income in the distribution of national income and the share of labor remuneration in primary distribution, improve the mechanisms for determining, reasonably increasing, and guaranteeing payment of workers' wages, strengthen redistribution adjustment through taxation, social security, and transfer payments, and improve public service guarantees in education, medical care, elderly care, and childcare. Second, improve the mechanism for promoting consumption. Expand the supply of high-quality consumer goods and services, cultivate new growth points in service consumption, promote the expansion and upgrading of goods consumption, promote new models of flexible and customized manufacturing, promote the quality improvement and upgrading of county-level consumer markets, create a number of new consumption scenarios with broad driving effects and high visibility, remove unreasonable restrictive measures in the consumption field, improve the protection of consumer rights and interests, and effectively implement the system of rest and leave for workers.
Shape the driving mechanism and let endogenous growth accumulate momentum for development. The insufficiency of the driving force for economic growth is, on the surface, a matter of insufficient input, but at a deeper level it is a matter of weak vitality and innovation capacity of market entities, impeded flow and inefficient allocation of factors such as capital, talent, and technology, and weak market expectations and unstable confidence. How can enterprises dare to innovate, factors be able to flow, old and new growth drivers be smoothly connected, and market expectations be stabilized? First, deepen the reform of the science and technology system. Strengthen the principal position of enterprises in scientific and technological innovation, strengthen basic research and research on key core technologies, advance in a coordinated manner innovation in incentive and evaluation mechanisms, and guide financial resources to invest early, invest small, invest long-term, and invest in hard technology. Second, deepen the reform of market-based allocation of factors. Improve the systems and rules for factor markets, promote the efficient circulation of factors such as land, labor, capital, technology, and data, deepen the reform of the household registration system and the reform of the institutions and mechanisms for integrated urban-rural development, and improve the mechanism whereby new factors such as data are evaluated for contribution by the market and remunerated according to contribution. Third, accelerate the reform of the investment and financing systems. Adhere to the close integration of investment in things and investment in people, guide more funds toward education, medical care, elderly care, and the cultivation of highly skilled talent, give play to the guiding role of government investment funds, and enable private enterprises to dare to invest, be willing to invest, and be able to invest. Fourth, promote the transformation of industrial policy. Traditional industries cannot simply be shut down; they must be promoted to transform and upgrade through equipment renewal, digital empowerment, and standard improvement; emerging industries cannot all rush in at once, and the focus of policy should shift from "selecting industries" to "optimizing the environment"; improve the mechanism for withdrawing inefficient capacity, raise total factor productivity and the potential growth rate, and promote sustained, stable, and high-quality economic development.
Author: Vice President of the China Academy of Macroeconomic Research
Return to TopBy: 杨汝岱
Deeply Tapping the Potential for Productivity Growth Driven by Artificial Intelligence
Yang Rudai
Productivity is an important indicator for measuring the quality and efficiency of economic development and occupies a foundational position in economic growth. Looking back at the history of world economic development, the sustained prosperity of major economies has relied not on the expansion of factor input scale, but on the continuous improvement of productivity. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China emphasized "steady improvement in total factor productivity," and the outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan lists the growth of overall labor productivity exceeding the growth of gross domestic product as one of the expected targets for economic and social development. At present, artificial intelligence, as a major general-purpose technology, is accelerating its breakthroughs, providing a historic opportunity for a leap in productivity. Building on China's comparative advantages in artificial intelligence development, further smoothing every link in the transformation of AI technology potential into productivity growth is of great significance for continuously promoting high-quality development.
I. The Potential of Artificial Intelligence Technology Will Not Automatically Translate into Productivity Growth
Productivity is the ratio of output to input, measuring the ability of unit input to create output. At the micro level, productivity is reflected in the production efficiency of business entities such as enterprises; at the macro level, the growth of total factor productivity and overall labor productivity collectively reflects the quality and efficiency of a country's economic growth.
Historically, there has also been debate over how technological progress affects productivity growth. In the early days of the rise of computers and the internet, a "productivity paradox" appeared periodically: technological progress was changing with each passing day (日新月异, ri xin yue yi - "day, new; month, new"), yet productivity growth was not simultaneously reflected in statistical data. But extending the historical perspective reveals that the so-called paradox is more a matter of the "time lag" in technology's transformation into productivity. New technologies need a process from invention to maturity, from application to popularization, and complementary investment, resource reallocation, organizational change, and institutional and mechanism reform also take time. At present, economic activities related to artificial intelligence are highly active, and mainstream research generally holds a positive view of AI's productivity-promoting effects, with differences mainly lying in the degree of optimism—that is, how large AI's growth effect will be and when it can fully manifest.
Artificial intelligence represents the development direction of new quality productive forces. At present, fields such as large models, intelligent chips, and computing power services have already formed a number of high-tech, high-efficiency, high-quality industries of considerable scale, and their development itself has a direct effect of driving productivity growth. On this basis, more important and broader is that artificial intelligence, as a general-purpose technology, can be embedded in the production and operation processes of a wide range of enterprises, promoting productivity growth in empowering all walks of life (千行百业, qian hang bai ye - "thousand, line; hundred, industry"). But it must be recognized that technological capability determines the upper limit of productivity growth, and realizing the transformation of AI technology potential into productivity growth depends on corresponding necessary conditions at both the micro and macro levels. The more sufficient the conditions, the more timely and obvious the effects will appear.
The effect of artificial intelligence on productivity first occurs at the task level. By converting data, algorithms, and computing power into capabilities for information processing, knowledge production, and decision support, artificial intelligence changes the way workers complete specific tasks. But improvements in task efficiency will not automatically translate into enterprise productivity growth. An enterprise is not a simple collection of independent tasks, but a system composed of a large number of interconnected production and operation links. AI-driven productivity growth is not merely because a new type of technology and capital input has been added to the production function; enterprises must make a series of supporting adjustments around artificial intelligence to business processes, talent structures, management methods, and so on, so that technology and organization are mutually adapted. In the early stage of AI application, capital inputs such as hardware and models increase first, while the production and operation system has not yet fully adapted, so productivity growth may be temporarily inconspicuous. As supporting inputs continue to accumulate and production processes are gradually restructured, the technological potential can be fully released. The faster an enterprise's organizational adjustment and the more fully supporting resource elements are formed, the shorter the interval from technology input to productivity growth.
Productivity growth at the enterprise level will not automatically aggregate into productivity growth at the macro level, which involves both structural factors in resource allocation and dynamic requirements of the economic cycle. From the perspective of resource allocation, if market segmentation, impeded factor mobility, and difficulty in the exit of low-productivity enterprises exist, high-productivity enterprises will find it difficult to expand their share and absorb more resources, and even the most remarkable efficiency improvements within enterprises may be confined within certain boundaries, making it difficult to fully converge into macro-level productivity growth. From the perspective of the economic cycle, the supply expansion driven by artificial intelligence needs sufficient demand to receive it, so that the circular chain of production, distribution, circulation, and consumption can be smoother, allowing productivity potential to be continuously released. While artificial intelligence replaces some repetitive labor, it also gives rise to new occupations and adds new jobs, but AI's job creation effect and substitution effect are not automatically balanced, and if not handled well, "jobless growth" may occur. Enterprises applying artificial intelligence, if they can convert efficiency improvements and benefit gains into increased job positions and higher worker incomes, and further drive the coordinated development of upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain, can achieve productivity growth on a larger scale and promote the sustained and healthy development of the national economy as a whole. From this perspective, deeply tapping the potential for productivity growth driven by artificial intelligence requires actively shaping favorable conditions suited to AI development, making good use of various advantages and opportunities, and more importantly, removing the bottlenecks and obstacles in every link of the transformation of technological potential into productivity growth.
II. China's Advantages and Challenges in AI-Driven Productivity Growth Coexist
Artificial intelligence promoting productivity growth not only follows the general laws of technological progress, but is also deeply influenced by the specific conditions of each country. Comparing the state of AI development across countries reveals that China has formed systematic advantages in technology, talent, industry, and market. From the perspective of innovation synergy, China's innovation chain, industrial chain, capital chain, and talent chain are closely linked, enabling rapid iteration from source-level technological breakthroughs to engineering and productization. From the perspective of application scope, the complete and vast modern industrial system provides rich practical scenarios for artificial intelligence to empower all walks of life. From the perspective of institutional conditions, China has strong organizational and mobilization capabilities in advancing the construction of public-good digital infrastructure such as computing power networks. From the perspective of business entities, the digital and intelligent transformation of a vast number of small and medium-sized enterprises holds profound productivity growth potential. These advantages are ones that many countries do not possess or find difficult to replicate, providing an important foundation for China's artificial intelligence to effectively and efficiently drive productivity growth.
In recent years, with the accelerated development of artificial intelligence technologies and business forms, coupled with deepening innovation at the management and institutional levels, the positive effects of artificial intelligence in promoting productivity growth have already been demonstrated. In the agricultural field, the application of technologies such as intelligent irrigation, drone plant protection, and precision monitoring has promoted the growth of per-unit-area yield of grain and other agricultural products. In the industrial field, intelligent quality inspection, process optimization, and predictive maintenance have significantly reduced defect rates and downtime, directly increasing output per unit of input. In the service sector, intelligent learning companions, logistics scheduling, and assisted diagnosis have noticeably improved service quality and work efficiency. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China's overall labor productivity grew at an average annual rate of 6.0 percent, 0.6 percentage points faster than the economic growth rate over the same period, and the portion of economic growth driven by innovation and efficiency improvement is strengthening. But it must be recognized that further releasing the productivity growth potential contained in artificial intelligence still requires solving some problems and challenges.
The expansion of artificial intelligence applications from the "digital world" to the "physical world" is still insufficient, constraining productivity growth in the real economy. In recent years, generative artificial intelligence represented by large models has developed rapidly, mainly applied to digital scenarios such as text generation and image processing. It must be recognized that visual recognition, voice interaction, embodied intelligence, and the like are equally important components of the artificial intelligence technology system, enabling artificial intelligence to move from the "digital world" of processing digital information to the "physical world" of perceiving, understanding, and transforming reality. The implementation and application of such technologies often can bring more direct and significant productivity improvements. At present, China has achieved positive results in fields such as robotics, intelligent driving, and smart factories, demonstrating broad prospects for digital and intelligent transformation and development. But compared with the practical needs of high-quality development and industrial upgrading, the overall maturity and large-scale application of physical artificial intelligence remain insufficient, and implementation in many fields is still at the demonstration and pilot stage. At a deeper level, behind the insufficient expansion of applications lies insufficient technological supply capability. At present, basic research in some fields of China's artificial intelligence remains relatively weak, the principal position of enterprises in scientific and technological innovation is not yet prominent enough, and there are also shortcomings in high-quality data accumulation and engineering capabilities supporting physical scenario applications.
The purpose of enterprises applying artificial intelligence leans toward cost savings, and productivity growth needs to place more emphasis on improving quality and empowering innovation. The paths through which artificial intelligence promotes productivity growth are diverse: it can not only reduce enterprises' labor and operating costs, but also improve product quality, and moreover can give rise to new products and new business forms, creating new momentum for economic growth. But looking at the actual situation, at present many enterprises' main purpose in applying artificial intelligence is to compress labor and replace repetitive work. A survey of nearly 130 entrepreneurs nationwide shows that nearly 70 percent of respondents regard reducing costs and increasing efficiency (降本增效, jiang ben zeng xiao - "lower, cost; increase, effect") as the greatest value brought by artificial intelligence. To be sure, the cost-saving effect manifests faster and is easier to quantify, while the returns from quality improvement and innovation have long cycles and high uncertainty. But if a large number of enterprises mainly use artificial intelligence to reduce employment and lower costs, the "cost reduction and efficiency increase" of individual enterprises may transform into "involution-style" competition at the industry level. Overemphasizing the substitution of labor may also amplify China's already prominent structural employment contradictions. Therefore, artificial intelligence cannot be simply narrowed down to a cost-reduction tool; rather, in AI applications, equal emphasis must be placed on cost savings, quality improvement, and innovation-driven efficiency gains.
Market selection and factor mobility face constraints, and there are obstacles in the transformation of enterprise productivity differences into macro-level allocative efficiency. Artificial intelligence will widen productivity differences among business entities such as enterprises, and the improvement of macro-level productivity depends to a certain extent on whether various resources can be reallocated from low-productivity enterprises to high-productivity enterprises, and on whether advanced and high-quality production factors can flow smoothly across a broader scope. At present, some local protectionist behaviors have shifted from overt to covert or taken on hidden variants, some low-productivity enterprises find it difficult to exit the market, and some have even formed a group of "zombie enterprises," occupying precious resources such as land, capital, and labor. Factors such as data, computing power, and electricity are highly relevant to the development and application of artificial intelligence, but the reform of their market-based allocation still needs to be further deepened. The "island" phenomenon of data resources is prominent, cross-regional computing power scheduling and green electricity supply are still constrained by institutional and mechanism factors, and some factors find it difficult to fully flow according to efficiency principles and achieve optimized combinations.
The transmission of enterprise productivity growth to employment, income, and effective demand is still insufficient, and the macroeconomic cycle needs to be further smoothed. At present, the benefits of artificial intelligence development are more concentrated among leading enterprises, platform enterprises, and some high-skilled workers, and how the dividends of technological progress can better benefit the broad masses of workers and ordinary enterprises still requires active exploration at the institutional level. The regional agglomeration of AI innovation activities and industrial development may also widen development gaps between regions. According to estimates, the combined AI industry scale of five provinces and municipalities—Beijing, Guangdong, Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Shandong—accounts for more than 80 percent of the national total, and some central and western regions face the problem of a widening "technology gap." Improving employment promotion and income distribution mechanisms in the AI era, exploring new paths for coordinated and linked regional development, and further smoothing the economic cycle among production, distribution, circulation, and consumption are the keys to whether artificial intelligence's productivity potential can be fully released.
III. Better Translating the Potential of Artificial Intelligence Technology into Productivity Growth
General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out that "artificial intelligence is a new engine for world economic growth and an accelerator for the transformation of old and new growth drivers." At present, China's economy is at a critical stage of overcoming difficulties and challenges (爬坡过坎, pa po guo kan - "climb, slope; cross, hurdle") in the transformation of old and new growth drivers and breaking through to establish a new momentum, and artificial intelligence is moving from the stage of accelerated technological breakthroughs to the stage of large-scale application. The key to determining its economic value will increasingly shift from how quickly technological capabilities improve to the extent to which technological potential can be transformed into productivity growth. Thoroughly implementing the series of important deployments for developing artificial intelligence in the outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan requires not only continuous deepening of innovation in technology and business models, but also greater attention to innovation at the management and institutional levels, opening up the chain of transformation from AI technology potential to enterprise productivity and macro-level productivity, and providing solid support for achieving effective qualitative improvement and reasonable quantitative growth of the economy.
Strengthen the efficient supply of computing power, algorithms, and data in the field of artificial intelligence, and expand the technological boundary of productivity growth. At present, artificial intelligence is accelerating its shift from processing digital information to perceiving, understanding, and transforming the "physical world." Deeply tapping the potential for productivity growth driven by artificial intelligence first requires consolidating the foundation of technological supply. Computing power, algorithms, and data are important pillars of artificial intelligence development, and they should be advanced as an integrated whole with coordinated efforts, improving their match with production scenarios. Strengthen basic research in artificial intelligence, reinforce the principal position of enterprises in scientific and technological innovation, achieve breakthroughs in a number of key core technologies in directions such as embodied intelligence, intelligent equipment, and industrial software, orderly open up real application scenarios in fields such as manufacturing, transportation, energy, and agriculture, and accelerate the move of physical artificial intelligence from demonstration and pilot projects to large-scale application. Strengthen the interconnection and supply-demand matching of intelligent computing power, and innovate the operation models of intelligent computing power infrastructure. Focus on subdivided industries and build a number of vertical models and intelligent agents that are useful, effective, and capable of sustainable iteration. Promote the development and opening of enterprise data and industry data, and build artificial intelligence language corpora and high-quality datasets for key industries.
Deepen and expand the "Artificial Intelligence Plus" initiative, and promote small and medium-sized enterprises in improving productivity through in-depth application. AI-driven productivity growth comes not only from the pioneering breakthroughs of a few leading enterprises, but also depends on whether the vast number of small and medium-sized enterprises can generally achieve efficiency improvements. Large enterprises have obvious advantages in R&D investment, professional talent, and data resources, and have a better foundation for advancing digital and intelligent transformation, while a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises, even if they can call on general-purpose models at lower cost, may not necessarily have the capability to complete the transformation of production processes, which can easily create the problem of shallow popularization and deep differentiation. In this regard, it is necessary to implement well the requirements for improving the service system for empowering small and medium-sized enterprises with digital and intelligent capabilities, build a promotion network for digital and intelligent transformation, and more through industry-common platforms, professional technical services, and AI application pilot bases for small and medium-sized enterprises, reduce the adoption costs and trial-and-error risks of small and medium-sized enterprises. Policy support should not only focus on technological and capital inputs such as models and computing power, but also place greater emphasis on complementary inputs such as data governance, process optimization, and employee training, promoting the expansion of enterprise-level AI applications from single-point links to the entire process.
Deepen the construction of the unified national market in depth, and amplify the productivity effects of artificial intelligence at the macro level. The faster technological progress, the higher the requirements for market integration. When the market is unified and open and factors flow freely, high-productivity enterprises can continuously expand and low-productivity enterprises can exit in an orderly manner, and only then can technological progress be fully reflected in macro-level productivity growth. To deepen the construction of the unified national market in depth, it is necessary to continuously improve basic institutional rules such as market access, fair competition, merger and reorganization, and market exit, regulate local government investment attraction behaviors, strengthen the rigid constraints of fair competition review, and explore the establishment of a simple exit mechanism covering all business entities. Deepen the reform of market-based allocation of factors, cultivate a nationally integrated technology market and data market, accelerate the construction of a nationally unified electricity market, improve cross-regional computing power scheduling and green electricity trading mechanisms, and promote the full flow and optimized combination of new factors such as data, computing power, and electricity according to efficiency principles.
Accelerate the construction of an employment-friendly development model, and form a virtuous cycle between productivity growth and demand expansion. The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan lists "synchronized growth of residents' income and economic growth, and synchronized growth of labor remuneration and labor productivity improvement" as main targets for economic and social development, and clearly proposes "strengthening the employment creation effect of artificial intelligence." These deployments profoundly grasp the intrinsic connection between technological progress, industrial upgrading, employment promotion, and improvement of people's livelihoods. To deeply tap the potential for productivity growth driven by artificial intelligence, it is necessary to make the construction of an employment-friendly development model an important focus, strengthen the coordination of industry and employment, conform to the division of labor refinement and business form innovation brought by artificial intelligence, actively explore and cultivate new occupational sequences, and develop new employment growth points. Steadily and prudently grasp the scope, intensity, and pace of artificial intelligence application in labor-intensive industries, minimize the impact on employed personnel as much as possible, and strengthen vocational skills training for workers undergoing job transitions. At the same time, adapt to the development of artificial intelligence technology, improve worker rights protection and social security systems, focus on improving income distribution mechanisms, study tax systems suited to new business forms, drive demand expansion and reinvestment, and provide long-term support for AI-driven productivity growth.
Author: Professor, School of Economics, Peking University
Return to TopBy: 《求是》杂志记者 蔡春玲 许文嫣
Qiushi Exclusive Interview
Deepening Systematic Reform of Mainstream Media: How to See It, How to Do It
Qiushi reporters Cai Chunling (蔡春玲), Xu Wenyan (许文嫣)
Editor's Note:
Deepening the systematic reform of mainstream media is a major strategic deployment made by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, based on adapting to the rapidly developing new situation of information technology and resolving the deep-seated contradictions constraining the survival and development of mainstream media. It is the primary task of reform in the current field of propaganda and culture. Around the question of how to deepen the systematic reform of mainstream media, our journal's reporters conducted exclusive interviews with Cui Shixin (崔士鑫), Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the All-China Journalists Association; Zhao Jiaming (赵嘉鸣), Member of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and Head of the Propaganda Department; Gong Zhengwen (龚政文), Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Hunan Broadcasting and Television Group (Hunan Radio and Television Station); Huang Changkai (黄常开), former Secretary of the Party Committee and President of Nanfang Daily Media Group (Nanfang Daily); and Zhang Zhian (张志安), Professor at the School of Journalism, Fudan University.
Reporter:
In recent years, various mainstream media outlets have actively explored systematic reform and achieved certain results, but they still face problems such as user attrition and content dilution. Please discuss why it is necessary to deepen the systematic reform of mainstream media and how to understand systematic reform.
Cui Shixin:
At present, internet platforms have restructured the logic of information distribution, algorithmic recommendation has changed the single model of editorial gatekeeping, social communication has impacted the one-way indoctrination mode of communication, and more and more young people no longer rely on traditional channels to obtain information, creating a risk of a generational gap in mainstream media users. In particular, facing severe squeeze from commercial platforms, some mainstream media outlets have lagged in transformation and face the danger of becoming "subsidiary media" and "marginal media." It can be said that this is a survival challenge brought by the fundamental displacement of the communication ecology. If we still remain at the stage of "moving newspaper content online," it is like building post stations in the era of highways—no matter how well the post stations are built, no one will come. Deepening the systematic reform of mainstream media is not only a matter of the "life and death" of mainstream media themselves, but also a matter of consolidating and strengthening mainstream values, mainstream public opinion, and mainstream culture, and a matter of whether we can pass the test of the internet and the test of long-term governance.
The core of deepening the systematic reform of mainstream media can be summed up in one sentence: promoting the main force to advance fully into the main battlefield. This means that resource allocation, production processes, and evaluation systems must all be restructured with the internet as the benchmark, promoting more high-quality resources and forces to converge on the internet, tilt toward mobile terminals, and be deployed in new scenarios. This reform involves the systematic transformation of thinking and concepts, the systematic reorganization of organizational structures, the systematic reengineering of production processes, and the systematic reconstruction of evaluation systems. To use the analogy of renovating a house, systematic reform is like redesigning and reconstructing the internal structure, pipeline channels, and functional zoning on the premise of firmly holding onto the load-bearing walls and foundation. If we don't renovate, the house will eventually become empty; if we renovate too slowly, the residents will also leave. Reform leads to survival; not reforming, or reforming late, leads to decline. The window of opportunity will not remain open forever. We must promote reform with unwavering determination and carry it out with real substance, driven by a sense of urgency that brooks no delay.
Zhao Jiaming:
To answer the "why," the key is to see clearly the urgency. At present, the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is profoundly rewriting the public opinion ecology, reshaping the cultural industry landscape, and reconstructing the forms of communication. Technological iteration waits for no one, audience migration does not turn back, and the struggle for discourse power has no pause button. If mainstream media have "their bodies in the internet but their minds still in the traditional end," no matter how loud their voices, they may be drowned out, and no matter how many positions they hold, they may be lost. Deepening the systematic reform of mainstream media is not adding embellishment to something already excellent (锦上添花, jin shang tian hua - "brocade, add, flowers") improvement, but a life-and-death breakout; it is not an elective course that can be taken sooner or later, but a major examination that must be passed.
To answer the "how," the key is to grasp systematicity. Systematic reform is a holistic reshaping that touches the fundamentals and affects the overall situation. It requires changing from "breakthroughs at individual points" to "reconstruction across the board," from "physical splicing" to "chemical reactions," and from "partial leadership" to "comprehensive excellence." Viewed separately, each may seem a difficult problem; viewed integratively, they are precisely each other's solutions. In the past two years, Shanghai has vigorously dismantled institutional mechanisms unfavorable to the development of mainstream media, improved business chains, evaluation methods, and talent structures. The two major media groups, Shanghai United Media Group and Shanghai Media Group, have seen comprehensive improvement in their main business indicators and continuously increasing social influence.
Reporter:
The ability to guide mainstream public opinion is the basic standard for testing the effectiveness of mainstream media reform. Please discuss how, through deepening the systematic reform of mainstream media, we can achieve a great improvement in communication power and influence and better grasp the dominant power over public opinion under information-based conditions.
Zhao Jiaming:
The most important yardstick for measuring the effectiveness of media reform is whether communication power, guidance power, influence, and credibility have been significantly enhanced. Our goal can be summarized as: content that stands firm, communication that reaches widely, and international outreach that travels far. As for content, it must be able to "set the tone" in the flood of information. The authority of mainstream media is not a lifetime license issued by past history, but professional sharpness and rational depth earned through one hard battle after another. As for communication, it must be able to "break through circles" across the entire network and all domains. If content is king, then the platform is the "king's throne." In recent years, Shanghai has continuously promoted the coordinated efforts of Party newspapers and Party journals, leading client terminals, radio and television audio-video portals, and vertical matrices.At present, the total followers of Shanghai United Media Group's full matrix have reached 560 million, and the total followers of Shanghai Media Group's full matrix have reached 430 million. As for external communication, it must be able to "sail far" in international communication. Shanghai is committed to establishing a new-type international financial media group, with the purpose of integrating financial media resources and advantages, telling China's financial stories well to the international community, and singing well the bright prospects of China's economy.
Huang Changkai:
The root cause of the decline of print media lies in the failure of user connection. At present, mainstream media face three major contradictions: first, the contradiction between the vast ocean of internet information and the insufficient communication power of traditional media; second, the contradiction between the strong demand of the people for authoritative information and the insufficient supply from new media run by mainstream media; third, the contradiction between relatively strong content production capacity and weak internet communication capacity.
To resolve these three major contradictions, efforts should be made in the following four aspects: first, editorial and reporting strength, that is, "being able to write it out"; second, coverage capacity, that is, "being able to spread it out"; third, technical support capability, that is, "being able to hold it up"; fourth, communication effectiveness, that is, "being able to influence people." Over the years, Nanfang Daily has focused on enhancing modern communication power and made every effort to build an independently controllable communication platform. At present, the Nanfang+ client has been downloaded over 210 million times, with daily active users exceeding 7 million, consistently ranking among the top in the country in the comprehensive evaluation of full-media production and communication effectiveness of provincial-level mainstream media. In addition, we can draw on the successful experience of state-owned enterprise reform to build strong state-owned media enterprises. Just as state-owned and central enterprises in the economic field "stand tall between heaven and earth" and private and foreign enterprises develop vigorously, state-owned media enterprises should likewise be given high-quality resources and policy support, enabling them to play to their respective strengths alongside commercial platforms.
Reporter:
Institutional and mechanism reform is the key to systematic reform. Please discuss how to optimize organizational structures, reengineer production processes, and improve a scientific and effective full-media evaluation system, using the integrated production of content, integrated technical support, and integrated business coordination between traditional and new media businesses as the breakthrough point.
Cui Shixin:
If the transformation of thinking solves the problem of "whether we want to reform," then institutional and mechanism reform solves the problem of "whether reform can be carried out and whether it is sustainable." Reform must first break through in content, expanding the influence territory of mainstream media through the wide coverage and effective reach of high-quality content. Integrated content production is like a restaurant that does not simply package dine-in dishes as takeout, nor does it set up a separate kitchen, but rather has a unified back kitchen and unified standards, while differentiating in experience and packaging. Integrated technical support is installing a "new engine" for reform. It requires a unified technical foundation; traditional media and new media cannot each build their own platform, maintain their own teams, and speak their own language. Integrated business coordination solves the problem of "blood production." The traditional end and the new media end cannot each pull their own advertising, negotiate their own cooperation, and calculate their own accounts, but must unify brand, resources, and operations. The full-media evaluation system is the "baton." Positive energy is the soul, high quality is the foundation, and high traffic is the effect. Traffic is the "circulation" and "ratings" of the digital-intelligence era. Traffic is not entirely equivalent to public opinion, but without traffic there is no communication power or influence. It is necessary to establish standards that unify positive energy, high quality, and high traffic—this is also the core concept of the reform of the China News Awards.
Zhao Jiaming:
The systematic reform of mainstream media needs the "sword of authority" of policy protection, the "policy red envelopes" of relief and pressure reduction, and, even more, the courage and responsibility to reshape institutions and mechanisms. Integrated content production, in particular, must resolve the problem of inverted resource allocation where people verbally emphasize "mobile first" but in practice still leave backbone forces and core resources in traditional businesses. From January 1, 2025, the client terminals of Jiefang Daily, Wenhui Daily, and Xinmin Evening News were merged into one, jointly building, sharing, and using the new Shangguan client. Daily original article output and original short video production have respectively reached more than three times and more than six times the levels before the reform. Integrated technical support, the key lies in building a unified technical foundation with connected channels, flowing data, and integrated services. Integrated business coordination, through promoting the deep embedding of mainstream media into urban governance, industrial development, and cultural consumption, enables mainstream media to become planners, promoters, and participants that help drive urban economic development and enhance urban consumption vitality.
Gong Zhengwen:
Reform that does not touch the relations of production is like practicing swimming on land—no matter how standard the form, you cannot swim into the blue ocean of the internet. We must break out of "minor improvements" and carry out holistic, ecological deep reshaping, achieving changes in concepts, momentum, structure, content, technology, communication, and management. I have the following points of understanding. First, reform is transformation, not relocation. Relocation means moving content from the big screen to the small screen, which will cause maladjustment and fail to win over young people; transformation means reshaping the underlying logic of content production: project initiation designed according to full media, production adapted for multiple terminals, communication following the laws of the internet, and assessment calculated according to integration effects. Second, technology is the variable, content is the constant, and users are the only fixed point. Artificial intelligence technology is rapidly impacting traditional modes of production and communication. Mainstream media must complete digital-intelligence transformation as soon as possible, but the importance of "telling stories well" has never changed, and the adjudicating position of users will never change. Third, what we pursue is not just traffic, but "being needed." The real "moat" of mainstream media is not algorithms, but the credibility and professionalism accumulated over many years. Fourth, the role of media is shifting from information intermediary to "social operating system." For radio and television media, "broadcasting+" is like carrying a shoulder pole: one end carries the governance needs of the Party committee and government, the other end carries the living needs of the people, and the pole in the middle is the integrated capability.
Reporter:
Artificial intelligence is an important driving force of the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation. Please discuss how to make good use of this revolutionary force of artificial intelligence to better empower the systematic reform of mainstream media.
Zhao Jiaming:
No technology, no media. At present, artificial intelligence is changing the media landscape at an unprecedented speed. Mainstream media cannot be absent, let alone fall behind. They must actively embrace it, skillfully control it, and use it for their own purposes. The key is to handle three pairs of relationships well. First, the relationship between "independent innovation" and "open cooperation." In the digital-intelligence era, whoever masters core data and algorithms can reach users more precisely. At the same time, independent innovation does not mean self-isolation; it requires continuously strengthening collaborative cooperation with government, industry, academia, and research. Second, the relationship between "internal empowerment" and "external service." While promoting the coverage of artificial intelligence across the entire news business process of planning, interviewing, editing, and publishing, Shanghai is actively exploring new models and new business forms driven by artificial intelligence in urban governance, industrial development, and cultural consumption, creating a new paradigm of commercial monetization that combines media influence, cultural creativity, and technological innovation, achieving "cultivation both internally and externally." Third, the relationship between "algorithm-driven" and "value-led." We should adhere to technology for good, improve the ethical norms, industry standards, and management systems for media's application of artificial intelligence, promote the construction of a corpus led by socialist core values, build authoritative "technology appraisal centers" and "rumor crushers," and ensure that algorithmic logic always serves value logic.
Zhang Zhian:
Artificial intelligence is rapidly evolving from an auxiliary tool into an important variable that reshapes news production, communication entry points, and the media ecology, and even a key force for structural reshaping. Mainstream media cannot remain at single-point applications such as machine writing, intelligent editing, and digital human broadcasting, nor can they become an "AI show" that simply displays technology. Instead, they must deeply integrate artificial intelligence technology into the entire chain of news business. At the same time, it should be recognized that, compared with internet technology companies, mainstream media are unlikely to be the original research units of artificial intelligence technology, and their application should fully highlight a scenario-oriented and results-oriented approach.
The more powerful technology becomes, the more the unique value of humans must be preserved. Artificial intelligence can generate large amounts of content and raise many questions, but what is truly scarce is inspiration. Edison had a famous saying: genius is 1 percent inspiration plus 99 percent perspiration. In the AI era, that 1 percent inspiration is precisely the hardest to replace. If journalists can only write formulaic scripts, they may be eliminated. In my view, that 1 percent inspiration is creativity, is empathy, is the depth of insight gained from carefully analyzing a complex situation or problem (抽丝剥茧, chou si bo juan - "pull, silk, peel, cocoon"), is the adherence to professionalism built upon insight, and is a more creative concept of communication maintained within that adherence. Therefore, while empowering the systematic reform of mainstream media with artificial intelligence, we must nurture and protect that 1 percent inspiration of media professionals.
Reporter:
Improving the style of writing is an important part of the systematic reform of mainstream media. Works with good writing style often carry their own traffic and spread without legs; works with poor writing style, no matter how much effort is expended, cannot achieve good propaganda results. Please discuss how to continuously improve the style of writing.
Cui Shixin:
To improve the style of writing, we must first solve the problem of "what constitutes good writing style." It is necessary to combine the actual characteristics of different genres such as news reports, commentary, and theoretical articles, clearly establish standards for works with good writing style, let everyone know what kind of works are worth learning, worth writing, and worth promoting, and promote a trend of understanding, loving, and competing in writing among editors, reporters, and commentators of mainstream media, becoming a widespread and popular trend (蔚然成风, wei ran cheng feng - "flourishing, become, wind"). Good writing style is not vague "literary flair" or "beautiful rhetoric," but rather contentful and substantive speech or writing (言之有物, yan zhi you wu - "speech, possess, things"), with information content and substance; speech that is reasonable, with viewpoints and depth; speech that is emotional, with warmth and resonance; speech that is useful, with pertinence and practical effect. Now, some "self-media" content on the internet cites extensively and speaks vividly and lively, and there are things worth learning from. How well a journalist or a media outlet has improved its writing style mainly depends on whether it can produce representative works of weight, influence, and wide circulation. The All-China Journalists Association's weekly recommendation of "My Representative Works" is precisely such an original intention. Improving the style of writing, the key lies in implementing the word "improve." Leaders should take the lead in writing short articles and substantive articles; manuscript review cannot simply add layers of requirements only to seek "no mistakes," but should encourage editors and reporters to boldly explore new forms of expression. At the same time, writing style requirements should be incorporated into the editorial process and assessment evaluation, so that good writing style receives positive feedback and rewards.
Huang Changkai:
Improving the style of writing requires traffic, but even more requires quality. High quality does not necessarily bring high traffic, but the quality of articles with persistently low traffic is often difficult to test and recognize. We must go deep into the front line, practice the "four capabilities," and catch more "live fish" from the news scene, rather than showing off literary flair on press releases and materials. We must speak the language of the people and move with genuine emotion, explaining profound thoughts thoroughly and clarifying complex events in language the common people can understand, making our reports and commentaries both full of righteousness and lively and vivid. Improving the style of writing requires attention to both "major articles" and "daily work." Major theme reports are highly political and have broad influence, and naturally require more time and energy for careful polishing; but daily reports and instant news are the backbone of daily traffic and also need to be taken seriously, making them attractive and useful.
Zhang Zhian:
The problem of writing style, on the surface, is a language problem, but in essence it is a problem of thought and concepts, the mass standpoint, and work style. A rigid writing style is often not due to insufficient skill, but to being far from the first scene, far from the interests of the masses, and far from the major issues of social development. To improve the style of writing, we must first strengthen problem awareness. Theoretical propaganda, policy interpretation, and theme reports should all start from the concerns of the masses and real contradictions, talk less about empty conclusions, and make more concrete analyses. Second, we must increase the information density of factual supply. Good works are not built by piling up adjectives, but by standing on scenes, characters, details, data, and logic. The special feature "The Conjecture of Wang" (《王的猜想》) by Guangxi Daily enabled print media to reproduce the phenomenon of extremely popular works that cause paper prices to rise (洛阳纸贵, luo yang zhi gui - "Luoyang, paper, expensive"), which, apart from the attractive title, benefited greatly from this. Third, we must adapt to the laws of full-media communication. The same theme cannot be simply copied and pasted across different platforms, but must be reorganized according to the user characteristics and scenarios of newspapers, client terminals, short video, and social platforms. For young people, particular attention should be paid to expression by peers, avoiding condescension and talking to oneself.
Reporter:
Mainstream media must have a large number of writing experts, programming masters, external publicity talents, and full-media elite soldiers for the cause to flourish. Please discuss how to strengthen the building of the talent team so that talents urgently needed for the development of the cause can come in, be retained, and be used well.
Cui Shixin:
Relevant research conducted by the All-China Journalists Association shows that at present, high-level editorial and reporting personnel in various news organizations are not too many, but too few. In particular, there are not enough top talents whose works can produce a "circle-breaking effect" and form broad social influence; not enough senior commentator talents who have both ideological penetrating power and skill in using popular language; not enough expert-type talents in key fields; and not enough "one specialty, multiple abilities" full-media talents. To let talents come in, it is necessary to broaden employment channels, break traditional inertia, and not only look at academic qualifications, seniority, or establishment. To let talents stay, it is necessary to give them a stage for work, promotion channels, treatment guarantees, and emotional belonging. To let talents be used well, it is necessary to speak with actual results, not look at years of service but at drive, not look at seniority but at ability, and establish an assessment and evaluation system oriented toward works, data, and effects. Many comrades in the research also mentioned that whether high-level editorial and reporting talents can be cultivated depends on the leadership. Good leaders can quickly identify talents and decisively select and use them, often "choosing the right person and invigorating an entire team." The continuous emergence of excellent works and high-level editorial and reporting talents in some mainstream media has a great deal to do with the fact that the principal responsible persons themselves are writing experts with the vision to identify talent and the breadth of mind to use talent.
As the bridge and bond connecting the Party and government with the journalism community, the All-China Journalists Association will build platforms and provide assistance in talent discovery, display, and cultivation, continuously explore and improve the selection of the China News Awards and the Changjiang Taofen Awards, as well as activities such as the publicity and selection of "National Top Ten Journalists" and "Good Journalists Tell Good Stories," and at the same time, relying on the "Journalists' Home" academy, build an all-round, three-dimensional, and segmented education and training platform, deepen the All-China Journalists Association's "one website, four accounts" communication matrix, and provide channels for outstanding talents to display their works and amplify their voices.
Gong Zhengwen:
Talent is not a cost, but the most core capital; investing in people is investing in the future. Facing the "triple squeeze" of high-salary siphoning by internet platforms, AI replacing basic positions, and asymmetric incentives and constraints within the system, the traditional "iron rice bowl" cannot retain the "special forces" of the new era. If we still remain in traditional personnel logic, it will be difficult to win this talent war. How can talents come in? The key to breaking through lies in "precision." We must precisely profile and target recruitment, establishing multi-dimensional, exclusive talent introduction channels. How can talents be retained? By treatment, but even more by career and dignity. We have built a diversified incentive system, with distribution tilted toward front-line creators and technical pioneers, giving those who "hear the sound of gunfire" a voice and a sense of gain, while implementing "one person, one discussion" precise incentives for "high-precision, cutting-edge, and scarce" talents, so that the soil of "Mango" can both grow towering trees and accommodate exotic flowers and rare plants. How can talents be used well? We cannot only look at academic qualification labels, but must look at practical combat capability. Facing the AI era, we have established an AIGC (AI-Generated Content) Innovation Content Center, opened AIGC practical training camps for all employees, cultivated internal dual-capability talents, enabling algorithm engineers to smell the hustle and bustle of the scene and directors to understand the boundaries of large models, continuously forging an all-around "Mango Corps" that understands culture, technology, and the market, activating new momentum for the high-quality development of mainstream media with the potential energy of talent.
Reporter:
Thank you all for accepting the interview.
By: 钟哲
Cultural China
Deeply Grasping the Outstanding Peacefulness of Chinese Civilization
Zhong Zhe
The Chinese nation is a nation that loves peace and upholds harmony. On June 2, 2023, at the Symposium on Cultural Inheritance and Development, General Secretary Xi Jinping for the first time summarized and systematically elaborated the outstanding characteristics of Chinese civilization, among which one important item is the "outstanding peacefulness." Only by deeply grasping the outstanding peacefulness of Chinese civilization can one fundamentally understand why China has always been a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a defender of the international order, why China adheres to cooperation and refrains from confrontation, will never engage in the factional "partisan cliques" of "attacking those of different views," and will not impose its own values and political system on others. This is of great significance for promoting world peace and development and for advancing exchanges and mutual learning among human civilizations.
I
Peace, amity, and harmony are concepts that have been passed down through more than five thousand years of Chinese civilization, long since deeply rooted in the spiritual world of the Chinese nation, shaping the fundamental way China handles its relationship with itself and the world. A history of the development of Chinese civilization is a history of the Chinese nation's peaceful development, valuing harmony above all else (以和为贵, yi he wei gui - "take, peace, as, precious") and bringing peace and harmony to all nations (协和万邦, xie he wan bang - "harmonize, ten thousand, states").
Since ancient times, the Chinese nation has held the value belief of valuing harmony and upholding peace. Building upon the traditions of the Xia and Shang dynasties, the Western Zhou dynasty implemented the feudal enfeoffment system with blood ties and patriarchal clan relations as the bond, constructing a relatively complete order of the world (tianxia). This order took "harmony" as an important principle, and through the process of "making clear illustrious virtue to be close to the nine clans; when the nine clans were harmonious, distinguishing and ordering the hundred officials; when the hundred officials were enlightened, harmonizing the ten thousand states," it was extended layer by layer from close to distant, from within to without, in order to ultimately realize the ideal realm of harmony among all states. Within the world order, even the four-directional ethnic groups that were far from the Central Plains and culturally distinct were still regarded as indispensable members, who should not be hastily classified as heretics because of differences, but rather should be treated with applying both virtue and ritual (德礼兼施, de li jian shi - "virtue, ritual, both, apply") and a policy of cherishing distant peoples. It was precisely on the basis of this world order that the Chinese nation produced the communal consciousness of "all under heaven as one family," formed a way of external interaction that used virtue and ritual to cherish and pacify the four directions, and laid the overall historical tone of China's being friendly to neighbors and kind to others (亲仁善邻, qin ren shan lin - "close, benevolence, kind, neighbor") and peaceful interaction with the four-directional ethnic groups.
During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the Western Zhou order increasingly collapsed, giving rise to a turbulent situation of feudal lords contending for hegemony and frequent wars. Against this complex background, the reconstruction of peace became an unignorable undercurrent of history and an internal force driving the Chinese nation from division and war toward peace and unity. At the political level, although power shifted from "rites, music, and punitive expeditions issuing from the Son of Heaven" to "issuing from the feudal lords," political practices centered on alliances and pacifying the Rong peoples were still valued by the feudal states, and the political concepts of harmonizing the states and subduing others through virtue were confirmed and deepened in this process. At the ideological level, the cruel reality of war stimulated profound reflection among politicians and thinkers. The Art of War proposed that "subduing the enemy without fighting (不战而屈人之兵, bu zhan er qu ren zhi bing - "not, fight, yet, bend, others', soldiers") is the best of the best," The Zuo Commentary proposed "ending war to achieve true peace (止戈为武, zhi ge wei wu - "stop, spear, be, martial")," and The Methods of the Sima proposed that "to kill people in order to give peace to the people, killing is permissible; to attack a state out of love for its people, attacking is permissible; to use war to stop war, even war is permissible," holding that war is legitimate only when it is conducted to safeguard peace, and that the highest form of war is not "winning every battle fought (百战百胜, bai zhan bai sheng - "hundred, battles, hundred, victories")" but rather avoiding casualties and achieving peace to the greatest extent possible. Thinkers represented by Confucianism, from a holistic perspective, put forward important propositions such as "governing through virtue (为政以德, wei zheng yi de - "govern, with, virtue") is like the North Star, which remains in its place while all the other stars revolve around it," "those who subdue others through virtue are sincerely pleased and truly convinced in their hearts," and "when righteousness is established, one becomes a true king; when trustworthiness is established, one becomes a hegemon; when power and scheming are established, one perishes," holding that a moral order should be used to construct a world in which the group and the self are united, and that in the relationship between self and others, others should be given priority. The peaceful orientation hidden in the institutions, thought, and hearts of the people during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods enabled the Chinese nation, amid the turmoil of arms, to appreciate ever more deeply the preciousness of peace, stability, and order.
From the Qin and Han dynasties to the Sui and Tang dynasties, with the formation and consolidation of the great unification pattern, the peacefulness of Chinese civilization, supported by state power, was further transformed from concept into institution, and returned from undercurrent to visible current, displaying the bearing of a great power that cherished the four seas with benevolence and treated the four directions with ritual and righteousness. The Qin dynasty built the Great Wall of ten thousand li, which was a posture of defense, not a momentum of attack, embodying the strategic culture of the Chinese nation in guarding its territory and reassuring its people, seeking peace through military preparedness. In the Han dynasty, Zhang Qian, on the orders of Emperor Wu of Han, twice went on missions to the Western Regions, and with his feat of "breaking through the void," connected China and the West, thereby opening the overland Silk Road, through which China began sustained contact and exchange with Central Asia, West Asia, and even the Greco-Roman world. At the same time, the Han dynasty gradually learned about the customs, politics, and conditions of the places along the route and maintained peaceful and stable relations with most of the countries along it. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, China ranked among the most advanced civilized countries in the world at that time, and the powerful and unified Tang dynasty was renowned throughout the world for its openness to the outside and its good-neighborly friendship. Within the city of Chang'an, institutions such as the Court of State Ceremonial (Honglu Si) were established to receive foreign guests. During this period, the extensive exchange of Chinese and foreign cultures led to great development in Sino-foreign communications, forming a land and sea transportation network centered on Chang'an and reaching out to the world. The Tang poem "Countless bells ring faintly across the desert, surely carrying white silk to Anxi" vividly recreates the flourishing scene of endless caravans on the overland Silk Road. Within Tang territory, Chang'an, Luoyang, Yangzhou, Guangzhou, and other places gathered merchant caravans and diplomatic missions from Persia, the Arab lands, Sogdia, Silla, and elsewhere, and at times foreign merchants gathered in clouds. Japanese envoys to the Tang dynasty, international students, and monks seeking the Dharma traveled and studied for long periods, and Sino-foreign cultural exchange was unprecedentedly active. This peaceful atmosphere and open-mindedness of "those near are delighted, those far come," wrote a grand and vivid historical chapter for the Chinese civilization's tradition of bringing peace and harmony to all nations.
During the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, Sino-foreign exchange continued to develop. From the Southern Song onward, the Maritime Silk Road gradually became the main channel of China's external intercourse, and private foreign trade also became increasingly active; "in the sound of the waves, merchants of ten thousand states" is precisely a portrayal of the flourishing maritime trade of that time. The Yuan dynasty had vast territory, and Sino-Western communications reached an unprecedented scale, marking the zenith of ancient Sino-Western communications history. In the Ming dynasty, Zheng He made seven voyages to the Western Oceans, and the scale of the fleet he led and the sophistication of its nautical technology far surpassed the contemporary level of the world; yet wherever he went, he did not occupy the land, did not enslave the people, but rather, upholding the imperial edict of "sharing the blessings of great peace," erected steles to establish friendly relations, opened markets for mutual benefit, and wrote the ritual righteousness and goodwill of the Chinese nation into the vast blue waves of the sea, becoming a true portrayal of the peaceful foundation of Chinese civilization. Even in the early Qing dynasty, Sino-foreign exchange was always conducted within a peaceful framework, with neighboring countries sending envoys back and forth, continuously conveying the sincerity of both sides in cultivating friendship, maintaining good relations, and jointly preserving peace.
Looking back over the more than five thousand years of Chinese civilization, peace has always been the mainstream of the historical development of the Chinese nation. The Chinese nation advocates communication to achieve harmony and opposes isolation and seclusion; advocates coexistence and mutual progress and opposes forcing others to follow oneself; advocates preserving great harmony and opposes the law of the jungle. It has stamped the profound imprint of peace on ideological concepts, political institutions, and external exchange, and the pursuit of peace has long been internalized as a deep civilizational gene of the Chinese nation.
II
The Chinese nation is a nation that loves peace. The British philosopher Bertrand Russell held that "if there is a nation in this world that is 'too proud to fight,' it is China. The Chinese are by nature tolerant and friendly, treating others with courtesy." To accurately understand the outstanding peacefulness of Chinese civilization, one must deeply understand the underlying reasons for the formation of this characteristic.
The formation of the endowments of Chinese civilization relied on production and life practices based on agriculture. For thousands of years, the ancestors of the Chinese nation, relying on uniquely favorable natural and geographical conditions, carried out agricultural production, and on this basis organized society, regulated order, and shaped the spirit, thereby forming distinctive ideological concepts and value pursuits. Agricultural practice shaped not only "how to cultivate" but also how people "live," "get along," and "conduct themselves." Qian Mu held that "the innermost feelings of agricultural culture are called 'the correspondence of heaven and man,' 'the unity of things and self,' called 'obedience' and 'harmony.' Its self-encouragement is called 'contentment with one's lot' and 'guarding oneself.' Hence the characteristics of this culture are commonly seen as 'peaceful.'" In long-term intensive cultivation, people became attached to the land and valued the rhythms of nature, and the growth of output came mainly from continuously increasing input into a unit of land, rather than from occupying external space. This mode of increasing production by following the seasons and digging deeper inward shaped the Chinese nation's being deeply attached to one's native land (安土重迁, an tu zhong qian - "settle, land, heavy, migrate") and inward-directed civilizational character; in particular, agricultural production, which emphasizes that one reaps what one sows, especially requires long-term stable order, and war is precisely the greatest destroyer of agricultural reproduction. Hence for an agricultural people, peace is not only a moral preference but also an objective requirement for survival and continuation.
The political tradition and governance model of the Chinese nation over thousands of years constitute the political superstructure that shaped the peacefulness of Chinese civilization. The land of China is vast and its ethnic groups numerous, and over the long course of historical evolution it gradually coalesced into an ultra-large-scale political and cultural community. For such a pluralistic and unified state, the key to consolidation and maintenance lies in fusing the internally highly diverse ethnic groups and the different political, economic, social, and cultural elements into an organic whole; hence the center of gravity of governance was naturally placed on internal governance and integration, manifested in encouraging agriculture and sericulture, lightening corvée and taxes, rectifying officialdom, and educating the people's hearts. When internal governance is well ordered and the state is prosperous and the people at peace, order and identity can be maintained; when internal governance is neglected and one devotes oneself exclusively to external expansion, it will only accelerate the dissipation of the people's strength and shake the foundation of the state. At the same time, in external relations, the Chinese nation upheld the policy of cherishing the distant of "when distant people do not submit, cultivate culture and virtue to attract them," and in interacting with different ethnic groups and different regions, often followed the principle of "providing generously and amply," giving generously and receiving modestly (厚往薄来, hou wang bo lai - "thick, send, thin, come") and treating others with courtesy. This way of external interaction, which coordinates relations through ritual and righteousness, gave the Chinese nation a peaceful posture that was both inclusive and defensive. Over a long period, the concepts of unity, stability, and harmony have taken deep root in people's hearts, forming a unique way of governance that is compatible with diversity and encompassing of all things, shaping the governing tradition of the Chinese nation of using arms with caution, securing the interior and consolidating the foundation, and bringing peace and harmony to all nations, becoming an important support for the unbroken continuity of the peacefulness of Chinese civilization.
The peacefulness of Chinese civilization cannot be separated from the unique ideological and cultural tradition of the Chinese nation. As early as the pre-Qin period, the Chinese nation produced the cosmological view that "harmony generates all things," holding that harmony is not only the basic principle governing the operation of the universe but also the fundamental precondition for the survival and development of all things. The Book of Changes proposed that "the way of Qian changes and transforms, and each thing rectifies its nature and destiny. Preserving great harmony, this is beneficial and correct," pointing out that in the process of the universe's operation and change, the highest state in which all things settle their natures and destinies and each obtains its proper place is harmony, and harmony is the greatest benefit that all things in heaven and earth can universally enjoy. The Doctrine of the Mean proposed that "the central is the great root of all under heaven; harmony is the universal path of all under heaven. When centrality and harmony are achieved, heaven and earth are in their proper positions and all things are nurtured," pointing out that centrality and correctness are the basis from which all things originate, harmony is the path through which all things proceed, and all things need an environment of mutual adjustment and complementarity to flourish in life. Xunzi proposed that "all things obtain their harmony to be born, and obtain their nourishment to be completed," likewise regarding harmony as the basic condition on which all things depend for survival. Proceeding from this understanding, the Chinese nation formed the value of valuing harmony above all else. The Book of Changes proposed that "heaven and earth feel each other and all things transform and are born; the sage feels the hearts of the people and all under heaven is peaceful," holding that harmony is the highest realm of human society. The Book of Rites, Record of Music proposed that "great music shares harmony with heaven and earth," holding that the peace, harmony, and beauty of human society are the great joy of all under heaven, and through this, connecting with heaven and earth, integrating into the rhythm of the universe, and attaining the unity of heaven and man. Thus, "harmony" was implemented in all levels of social life and became a common value orientation: in interpersonal interaction, one advocates "harmony without uniformity"; in ordering the family, one values "when the family is harmonious, all undertakings prosper"; in institutional design, one esteems "in the application of ritual, harmony is most precious"; and in relations among states, one hopes for "bringing peace and harmony to all nations." The tradition of harmony and unity of the Chinese nation, which takes peace and harmony as an important goal and the guardianship of tranquility as a solemn responsibility, is the deep ideological driving force that produced and maintains the peacefulness of Chinese civilization.
III
Surveying the history of world civilizations, great powers that rose through war and established themselves through hegemony, and civilizations that became estranged through prejudice and conflicted through estrangement, fill the pages of history without end; by contrast, the Chinese nation has always taken valuing harmony above all else and bringing peace and harmony to all nations as its ideal pursuit. However, for a long time, some Western scholars, confined by their own theoretical horizons and historical experience, have interpreted the peacefulness of Chinese civilization with some biased arguments, and it is necessary to analyze and clarify these to get to the root of the matter.
Among these, the most widely influential argument is the "theory that a strong state is bound to seek hegemony." This argument asserts that any state, once powerful, is bound to seek hegemony and expansion, that the contradictions between established powers and rising powers are irreconcilable, that war is unavoidable, and from this infers that China's development cannot escape the so-called "Thucydides Trap" and is bound to give rise to a new hegemony. This argument is difficult to justify itself. In fact, the history of hegemony-seeking among Western states in modern times is merely a partial episode in the long river of human civilization, and using it to deduce the fate of all states is itself a misuse of the sample. The Chinese nation long occupied a leading position in the world, and the British economic historian Angus Maddison recorded in The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective that from the first year of the Common Era, China's GDP long accounted for more than one-fifth of the world's total, reaching 32.9 percent in 1820. China's leadership was not only at the economic level; its political institutions, cultural concepts, and so forth were also long studied and emulated by neighboring countries and peoples. Such a great and powerful state did not take the path of hegemony-seeking, which shows that whether one seeks hegemony does not depend on the strength of national power but on the civilizational gene. Even in the situation of modern China's suffering from bullying, the peace belief of the Chinese people never faded. As Sun Yat-sen said: "Our Chinese nation, loving peace and abiding by the law, is rooted in nature, and will never lightly initiate war unless compelled to do so in self-defense." For the Chinese nation, the breadth of mind that the strong do not oppress the weak and the rich do not insult the poor is determined by the nature of its civilization.
Another representative argument is the "clash of civilizations theory," which holds that differences among civilizations are difficult to bridge and that the fault lines between civilizations will ultimately become the fuse for war. Those who hold this argument mostly ignore the long-standing peaceful endowment of Chinese civilization and believe that China is bound to be drawn into conflicts among civilizations. The crux of this argument lies in its narrative tendency to steer differences among civilizations toward confrontation. That civilizations each have their own characteristics is the norm, and differences do not necessarily lead to conflict; it is the choice of how to get along that determines the direction of civilizational relations. Since its very formation, Chinese civilization did not develop in isolation amid closed confrontation, but rather grew stronger in the process of absorbing and integrating the beneficial achievements of neighboring civilizations, and its development relied on civilizations' learning from each other's strengths and mutual learning, not on zero-sum games of life and death. Human beings differ only in skin color and language, and civilizations differ only in their varied splendor, but there is absolutely no distinction of high and low, superior and inferior. To consider one's own race and civilization superior, to exaggerate civilizational differences as the root of conflict, and to insist on transforming or even attempting to replace other civilizations, is nothing but a theoretical trap of Western centrism that judges others by itself; it is erroneous in understanding and disastrous in practice. "Each appreciates its own beauty, appreciates the beauty of others, shares beauty among all, and achieves great unity under heaven" — this is the proper way of getting along and the ideal state for human civilizations.
Another argument worthy of vigilance is the view that the history of the formation of the pluralistic and unified pattern of the Chinese nation is a history of aggression and conquest, the result of the Central Plains dynasties repeatedly resorting to arms against the surrounding ethnic groups, expanding and assimilating them, and conquering them by force. This argument applies the conceptual framework of modern Western colonial conquest and imperial expansion to tailor Chinese history, externalizing China's internal ethnic relations into relations between states, between conquerors and the conquered. The core logic of Western colonial expansion is outward conquest and plunder, and its relational foundation is the binary opposition between conqueror and conquered. China, however, "formed a whole through the convergence of the four directions, not by extending its power from a single center to suppress the surrounding areas and force them to follow it" — this is a process of inward cohesion. This process certainly contained conflict, but its deeper historical trend was absorption and convergence, cultural identity generated by cultural centripetal force, and what it ultimately promoted was mutual understanding and two-way integration, not the further deepening of opposition. To apply the conceptual framework of outward conquest to the historical process of inward cohesion misplaces the nature of the question from the very starting point and fundamentally makes it impossible to understand the internal mechanism of the formation of the pluralistic and unified pattern of the Chinese nation.
The peacefulness of Chinese civilization encompasses continuity, innovation, unity, and inclusiveness; it is both the precondition for the sustained existence of the latter four in history and the natural result jointly shaped by them, constituting the overall bearing of Chinese civilization. At present, the world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation, geopolitical conflicts flare up one after another, and the shadows of Cold War mentality and hegemonism have not dispersed; humanity once again stands at a crossroads between war and peace, confrontation and cooperation. What path to take determines the future direction of human civilization and tests humanity's wisdom and sense of responsibility. Facing the future, we must more consciously uphold the Two Integrations (两个结合), strengthen cultural confidence, draw intellectual nourishment from the outstanding peacefulness of Chinese civilization, carry forward the civilizational gene of the Chinese nation that esteems justice and upholds harmony, work together with all countries in the world to promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, practice the four major global initiatives, and ensure that the noble cause of human peace and development is passed down from generation to generation and advances steadily and far.
Return to TopBy: 韩震
Promoting Exchanges and Mutual Learning Among Civilizations Through "Harmony in Diversity"
Han Zhen
There are more than 200 countries and regions, more than 2,500 ethnic groups, and multiple religions in the world. Different histories and national conditions, different ethnic groups and customs, have given rise to different civilizations, making the world more rich and colorful. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that "the diversity of human civilizations is a basic feature of the world and a source of human progress," and that "every civilization is rooted in its own soil of survival, embodying the extraordinary wisdom and spiritual pursuits of a nation and a people, and each has its own value of existence." At present, the world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation, and global challenges are emerging incessantly (层出不穷, ceng chu bu qiong - "layer, emerge, not, endless"). It is necessary to pay close attention to the question of how different civilizations can achieve peaceful coexistence and harmonious symbiosis. Deeply studying and comprehending the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions on this subject, viewing the rich and colorful world with the vision that "things differ from one another, and that is the nature of things," and following the value principle of "harmony in diversity" can inject more positive energy into world peace, development, and common prosperity.
Like other nations of the world, the Chinese nation has its own unique value ideals, value pursuits, and value concepts. Of course, because Chinese values are forged through the historical evolution of the Chinese nation over several millennia, reflecting the life experiences, ideal pursuits, and spiritual explorations of the Chinese nation on the land of China, they inevitably carry the distinctive cultural forms, ideological connotations, and spiritual essence of the Chinese nation. From the story of Yu the Great taming the floods, one can see that China, a country based on agrarian civilization, places great importance on the collective and on cooperation. Under the conditions of low productivity in ancient times, when facing the challenges of nature, individuals could only gain the opportunity and strength to survive within the collective. Therefore, when it comes to value and values, Chinese people tend to think more from the perspective that the whole precedes the part and the collective is superior to the individual, with the aim of achieving social harmony under the premise of existing differences. Confucius said: "The gentleman seeks harmony but not conformity; the petty person seeks conformity but not harmony." This statement is in fact deeply meaningful and provides excellent inspiration for resolving social conflicts. In the view of the Chinese people, if one insists on imposing one's own will on others, using this to handle interpersonal relations and to handle conflicts in understanding among different people, that is "conformity without harmony," and the result will further intensify contradictions, creating more and greater conflicts; whereas if one handles conflicts of rights among people by mutually respecting the particularity of others, with each abiding by the boundaries of one's own rights, then "harmony in diversity" can be achieved.
From the perspective of ontology, difference is a state of foundational and essential significance; difference or divergence is the destined state of every living being. Every nation lives under different natural environmental conditions and is at a different stage of development, and therefore inevitably possesses unique historical characteristics; people live in different spatiotemporal systems, have different historical and cultural traditions, and face different survival challenges, and therefore inevitably develop different interest demands. The reason the self is the self is fundamentally that I am not someone else; others cannot replace me, and I cannot replace others. People are plural people, nations are plural nations, and states are plural states. In the world, there exist many different languages, different cultures, and different values. Acknowledging difference and diversity is the premise of democratic values, and even more so the premise of human rights values. If one does not acknowledge the particularity of others, one is denying the rights of others, or even denying the meaning of others' existence, and it becomes very difficult to maintain harmonious relations. Since differences among people are certain, there should be mutual respect; although states have different interests, they can also coexist harmoniously. If someone insists on forcing others to submit to oneself, or if some state does not acknowledge the special interests and concerns of other states, then conflict will inevitably arise.
From the perspective of methodology, the "harmony in diversity" pursued by the Chinese nation cannot be regarded as unprincipled forbearance, nor can this value principle be seen as a compromise with injustice. On the contrary, advocating the value principle of "harmony in diversity" is precisely for the purpose of restraining the impulse of certain states to infringe upon the interests of other states with their own rights claims, thereby achieving a state of mutual respect and peaceful coexistence. Laozi said: "The Way of Heaven benefits all things and harms none; the Way of the sage acts but does not contend." This means that people still need to do things, and sometimes even to "compete," but they must not "contend," and must not harm or attack others through force. As far as international relations are concerned, only by adhering to the value principle of "harmony in diversity" can the hegemonic behavior of certain states that bully other countries by virtue of their strength be restrained, because the value principle of "harmony in diversity" requires that "all things grow together without harming one another, and the Way and its courses run in parallel without conflicting." Applied to international relations, "acting but not contending" is fair and benign competition, and "benefiting without harming" is win-win cooperation. Therefore, the value principle of "harmony in diversity" is not only a method for maintaining social harmony and basic order, but also a path for safeguarding international fairness and justice and world peace and security.
For example, peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom are the common values of all humanity, but different countries, due to reasons of environment, interests, and tradition, may not necessarily understand them in exactly the same way. What is the most appropriate way to resolve this? Clearly, it should be to mutually respect each other's particularities and gradually reach consensus through exchange and mutual learning. Such consensus will not be something of a single hue, but rather the result of the fusion of different cultural traditions and different practical considerations. Certain countries regard their own solutions as universal, believing that the democracy they define is the so-called true democracy and the freedom they define is the so-called true freedom, which inevitably places others in a state of forcing something to fit an unsuitable standard (削足适履, xue zuo shi lü - "cut, foot, fit, shoe"); there are also certain countries that use force to compel others to conform to themselves, and if the other side does not agree, they suppress it, or even eliminate it — this is hegemonic bullying behavior. In a sense, these countries adopt the approach of "enmity must be pursued to the end," regarding their own values as absolute and universal, viewing other cultural and value traditions as heresies, and striving to achieve political, ideological, and cultural uniformity by completely eliminating the other. This practice of "conformity without harmony" can only bring greater chaos and conflict to the world, and in turn also harms oneself. The value principle of "harmony in diversity" of China, by contrast, places greater emphasis on "enmity should be resolved through harmony," advocating that through dialogue and consultation, a state of each appreciating their own unique beauty (各美其美, ge mei qi mei - "each, beautiful, its, beautiful") and the shared beauty of all can be achieved.
For example, in the understanding of human rights values, the Chinese people do not merely understand human rights as free competition among individual rights or interests, but rather hope that in this process of "all things contending for freedom under the frosty sky," people can reach certain consensus with one another to achieve a harmonious state of society. This is why the Chinese people place so much importance on the deep cultural psychological structure of "harmony is most precious" and "harmony in diversity." In the view of the Chinese people, only in a state of "harmony in diversity" can society maintain basic harmony and stability, and can the people truly live a life of democracy, freedom, equality, and justice.
From the perspective of development theory, "harmony in diversity" is also a value principle conducive to the future well-being of all humanity. In 2014, when delivering a speech at the headquarters of UNESCO, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "the Chinese people long ago understood the principle of 'harmony in diversity'" and that "we should seek wisdom and draw nourishment from different civilizations." The General Secretary later also pointed out: "Differences between civilizations should not become a source of conflict in the world; rather, they should become a driving force for the progress of human civilization." These important expositions demonstrate the essence and substance of the fine traditional Chinese culture. The ancient Chinese long ago recognized that "harmony truly generates all things, while sameness does not lead to continuation," meaning that only when different things establish harmonious relations with one another can the flourishing development of all things in the world be promoted; if everything is homogeneous, it will be very difficult for the world to develop. From this, it is not difficult to understand why the Chinese nation has been able to create a civilization that has continued for several millennia without interruption, and why it has been able to merge into a community with a shared future of diversity in unity — because the Chinese people uphold the value principle of "harmony in diversity." Many ethnic groups in history, such as the Xiongnu, Minyue, Xianbei, and Khitan, merged into the big family of the Chinese nation through long-term interaction, exchange, and integration, injecting much vitality and vigor into the Chinese nation, enabling it to overcome various challenges and continuously develop and continue. From this, we can also understand why China has developed so rapidly since reform and opening up — because China opened its doors to build the country, broadly absorbed the outstanding achievements of human civilization, and through drawing on, learning from, and utilizing them, greatly stimulated the creative vitality of the Chinese nation. In other words, the reason China's development has been able to achieve such great accomplishments is clearly inseparable from the driving force and advantage of "harmony generates all things" gained through reference to diversity. As General Secretary Xi Jinping said, "If human civilization were to become only a single color or a single model, then the world would be too monotonous and too boring," and "exchange and mutual learning are the essential requirement for the development of civilizations. Only through exchange and mutual learning with other civilizations, learning from others' strengths to offset one's own weaknesses (取长补短, qu chang bu duan - "take, long, supplement, short"), can one maintain vigorous vitality."
"The beauty of harmonious broth lies in the blending of different flavors." Against the backdrop of the accelerated evolution of major changes unseen in a century, and against the backdrop of climate change, ecological crises, and great-power competition, we need all the more to follow the value principle of "harmony in diversity" in handling international relations. Only in this way can humanity work together in harmony to overcome difficulties (和衷共济, he zhong gong ji - "harmony, heart, together, cross"), rather than heading toward an irredeemable state (万劫不复, wan jie bu fu - "ten thousand, kalpa, not, recover") in the chaos of "conformity without harmony." As a value principle, "harmony in diversity" is cherished by the Chinese nation and upheld by the Chinese people, and it should also be a value principle of practical significance for handling international relations. In fact, for all humanity, "harmony in diversity" is increasingly becoming a value principle of major world significance.
Author: Researcher at the Beijing Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and Director of the Academic Committee of Beijing Normal University
Return to TopBy: 樊小菊 沙鸿瀚
The Real-World Dilemmas of Global Ocean Governance and the Direction of Its Transformation
Fan Xiaoju, Sha Honghan
As the once-in-a-century transformation accelerates, the world has entered a new period of turbulence and change. The deficits in peace, development, security, and governance are continuously being transmitted to the oceans, while unilateralism and hegemonic acts are accelerating their penetration into the deep sea, maritime shipping lanes, polar waters, and other domains. With multiple contradictions interwoven and superimposed, global ocean governance faces severe tests.General Secretary Xi Jinping has stressed: "This blue planet on which we humans live is not divided into isolated islands by the oceans, but is connected by the oceans into a community with a shared future, where the safety and security of people of all countries are intertwined. The peace and tranquility of the oceans bear on the security and interests of all countries in the world and require joint efforts to safeguard and cherish." Building a maritime community with a shared future is the concrete extension and vivid practice of the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind in the maritime domain, and it points the way for resolving the deficits in global ocean governance and advancing the building of a just and equitable international maritime order. An in-depth analysis of the real-world dilemmas facing global ocean governance and an exploration of the direction of transformation that accords with the trend of the times are of great significance for safeguarding maritime peace and stability and promoting the sustainable development of the oceans.
I
Global ocean governance is the common governance practice by which the international community, relying on multilateral cooperation, addresses various types of cross-border maritime affairs in sea areas beyond national jurisdiction. Its core objectives can be summarized in three aspects: maintaining maritime security and order, promoting the sustainable development of marine resources, and protecting the marine ecological environment. At present, all of the above objective areas face real-world dilemmas.
Geopolitical rivalry is accelerating its spread into maritime shipping lanes, seabed facilities, and polar waters, and maritime security risks continue to accumulate. First, the weaponization of shipping lanes is becoming increasingly evident. Strategic maritime shipping lanes bear on the security of global industrial and supply chains, energy, and food, and are the "lifelines" of global trade. At present, geopolitical risks in key shipping lanes such as the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait are rising, with attacks on vessels and rising shipping insurance premiums directly disrupting the global shipping market. Certain countries seek to control the world's major shipping lanes, launch so-called lane reviews, promote the extraterritorial application of their domestic regulatory rules, and impose geopolitical intervention and diplomatic pressure on shipping hubs and key ports such as the Panama Canal and the Suez Canal, seriously undermining the consensus on lane governance. Second, the vulnerability of undersea space security is becoming prominent. Key undersea infrastructure such as submarine communications cables and energy pipelines underpins cross-border data flows and global energy transmission, but the relevant rules on regulation, accountability, and compensation are lacking. From the sabotage of the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines in 2022 to the damage to the Syria-to-Egypt submarine cable in 2026, the growing number of damage and interruption incidents has exposed the security shortcomings of undersea facilities. Third, rivalry over Arctic waters continues to heat up. In recent years, Russia, the United States, the European Union, and others have successively issued or revised their Arctic strategies, linking the Arctic to their own security and even placing security at the core of their respective Arctic strategies, gradually drawing this region, which was originally dominated by scientific research cooperation, into great-power rivalry. The original cooperation agenda has been disrupted, the advancement of practical projects has been hindered, and multilateral cooperation mechanisms have come to a near standstill.
The institutional development of deep-sea governance lags behind development practice, and the dilemmas of deep-sea resource development are becoming increasingly prominent. First, the supply of multilateral rules for the commercial exploitation of international seabed minerals is seriously lagging. In accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (hereinafter referred to as the "Convention") and the Agreement relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982, the seabed and ocean floor and subsoil thereof beyond the limits of national jurisdiction (hereinafter referred to as the "Area") and the resources of the Area are the common heritage of mankind, and all rights over the resources of the Area are exercised by the International Seabed Authority (hereinafter referred to as the "Authority") on behalf of mankind as a whole. The Authority has completed the formulation of regulations for prospecting and exploration for polymetallic nodules, polymetallic sulphides, and cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts, but the negotiations on regulations for the commercial exploitation of international seabed minerals are difficult, with sharp differences among parties on core issues such as environmental standards and benefit-sharing, making consensus hard to reach. Second, unilateral regulatory arrangements are undermining the operational foundation of the international seabed regime. Certain countries, in accordance with their domestic laws, have launched unilateral approval arrangements for the exploration and exploitation of deep-sea minerals in the international seabed area, bypassing the international seabed regime led by the Authority, accepting and processing license applications on their own, and attempting to start something new on one's own (另起炉灶, ling qi lu zao - "another, start, stove") by building parallel regulatory systems. Third, the problem of inequitable distribution of benefits from deep-sea development is becoming increasingly prominent. Many countries have limited technology and capital for deep-sea exploration and development and find it difficult to carry out deep-sea operations independently, so they can only rely on external commercial forces to participate. Most of the benefits generated are controlled by external actors, making it difficult to realize the goal of broadly sharing benefits as advocated by the principle of the common heritage of mankind. Fourth, the existing rules of international seabed governance mainly bind States Parties to the Convention, and there have always been legal disagreements over their application to non-States Parties. In 2026, the Assembly of the Authority planned to request an advisory opinion from the Seabed Disputes Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, focusing on key issues such as the legal validity of deep-sea mining by non-States Parties and the binding force of the principle of the common heritage of mankind on non-States Parties, but the issue was postponed to 2027 for discussion. On the whole, development practice is running ahead of the rules, and some countries unilaterally emphasize their own development rights while evading their obligations, continuously amplifying institutional loopholes and weakening the legal foundation on which deep-sea governance relies.
Pressure on the marine ecology continues to intensify, and risks to global marine ecological protection are rising. The third World Ocean Assessment, released by the United Nations in 2026, points out that anthropogenic and natural factors are subjecting marine ecosystems to increasingly severe pressure, and that climate change, pollution, and overexploitation continue to weaken ocean health. Global ocean warming and sea-level rise are accelerating, squeezing the living space of a large number of marine organisms; marine pollution continues to deteriorate, and biodiversity is declining in almost all marine habitats. Japan's 24 rounds of discharge of nuclear-contaminated water have totaled 188,400 metric tons, with radioactive substances spreading with ocean currents, highlighting that under the existing framework of global ocean governance, there are still obvious shortcomings in the determination of liability and the implementation of accountability for damage caused by cross-border marine pollution. The damage chains related to marine ecological risks often involve sea areas under the jurisdiction of multiple countries, and the coverage of control actions by a single country is limited and insufficient to address cross-regional, systemic ecological risks. Cross-border marine ecological governance is highly dependent on multi-party coordination, but at present, unified and effective multilateral stewardship arrangements are still relatively lacking. The Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (hereinafter referred to as the "BBNJ Agreement"), as a landmark achievement in global marine ecological governance in recent years, has established a new institutional framework for the protection of biodiversity on the high seas, but it still faces many practical challenges in terms of implementation and transformation and coordination in compliance.
II
The dilemmas manifested in the security, resources, and ecology of ocean governance are the result of the combined effect of multiple factors. The intensifying competition brought about by the rising strategic value of the oceans, the differences in the foundations of maritime development among countries, and the slow progress of coordinated governance are interwoven and superimposed, continuously exacerbating the ocean governance deficit.
The rising strategic value of the oceans and the unbridled hegemonic acts are the underlying root causes of the accumulation and fermentation of maritime security risks. The oceans sustain the external connectivity and economic and trade exchanges of all countries in the world. Against the backdrop of profound adjustments in the international balance of power and rising pressure on the security of industrial and supply chains, competition over resources and rules is continuously being transmitted to the maritime domain, and rivalry and competition in the maritime field have significantly intensified. Key shipping lanes, undersea space, Arctic waters, and other areas have risen in strategic value and become key targets of competition. Important straits, canals, and ports located on maritime traffic arteries are the "throats" that control the global economy, and certain countries use them as tools for maintaining hegemony and extracting economic privileges. Some even abuse force, causing the flames of war to directly threaten key shipping lanes, with related shipping traffic facing the risk of interruption and paralysis. Key undersea infrastructure is crucial to global interconnectivity, but the lack of effective physical protection makes it more vulnerable to becoming targets of asymmetric attacks in hostile actions. Against the backdrop of rising risks of conflict and confrontation worldwide, the vulnerability of key undersea infrastructure is becoming more prominent, a global consensus and institutional arrangements for its protection are far from being achieved, and the adverse trend of the instrumentalization and weaponization of key undersea infrastructure is accelerating. Driven by climate warming, the melting of Arctic sea ice is accelerating, and the geopolitical and commercial value of Arctic shipping lanes has risen significantly, with strategic rivalry over the use of Arctic shipping lanes and the development of resources and energy intensifying. The Arctic Council, as an important regional institutional arrangement in the governance of Arctic waters, has seen its governance effectiveness weakened by the spillover effects of geopolitical conflicts, making it difficult to advance practical cooperation in scientific research and environmental protection.
The difficulty in reconciling interests and the significant gap in development capacity are the main reasons for the deepening dilemmas of deep-sea resource development. From the perspective of interests, multilateral negotiations on deep-sea resources at the international level usually follow the principle of consensus, and major issues can only be implemented after consensus is reached by all parties. Once interests and demands are sharply opposed, a small number of participants can block the consultation process, directly slowing down the pace of formulating international rules. A small number of countries regard the deep sea as an important arena of competition and, out of strategic considerations for maintaining their supply chain advantages and discursive power over rules, are unwilling to accept the constraints of the multilateral negotiation process led by the Authority, instead relying on domestic legislation to seek alternative solutions, exacerbating the fragmentation of deep-sea governance rules. Differences in interests further give rise to legal disputes. The international seabed area regime is an international legal framework established under the Convention, but as to whether countries that have not acceded to the Convention can directly carry out deep-sea mining activities, driven by their own practical interests, countries have vastly different judgments, making it difficult to build a universally accepted legal consensus. From the perspective of practical conditions, deep-sea development is a frontier field highly intensive in capital and technology, and the global distribution of technological innovation and industrial investment is uneven, resulting in obvious gaps among countries in deep-sea development practice and the distribution of resource benefits. Many countries, although enjoying rights conferred by law, find it difficult to translate them into tangible development dividends. The sharp opposition of interests and demands makes multilateral rule consultations difficult, while the huge gap in development capacity further compresses the space for parties to reach compromise, making it difficult for the institutional development of deep-sea governance to keep pace with the progress of resource development practice, continuously amplifying existing institutional loopholes.
The contradiction between the integrity of the marine ecosystem and the fragmentation of governance actions by various countries is the deep-seated crux of the continuously intensifying risks to global marine ecological protection. On the one hand, marine pollution poses an increasingly serious threat to the health of marine ecosystems, impacting biodiversity, habitats, and food chains, with harm reaching across the globe. However, the advancement of marine ecological protection ultimately depends on sovereign states taking action based on their own jurisdictional sea areas. For many cross-border ecological issues, the source of the disaster and the affected areas fall under the jurisdiction of different countries, and handling them requires repeated consultations among multiple countries, with many coordination links and long cycles, making it easy to miss the optimal handling opportunity and causing ecological damage to continue to spread and transmit outward. Taking major ship oil spills at sea as an example, oil pollution spreads to multiple sea areas with ocean currents. Although relevant international treaties serve as a basis, oil cleanup operations and liability determination depend on various countries proceeding separately, making efficient handling difficult to achieve, and cases of expanding harm are common. On the other hand, marine ecological protection faces the practical problem of mismatch between costs and benefits. The ecological benefits brought by the improvement of the marine environment are shared by the international community. However, environmental monitoring and ecological restoration cannot be achieved without capital investment and technical support, and the related costs mainly fall on the countries that carry out protection practices. Some countries are only willing to enjoy the benefits of marine protection while evading the responsibilities and obligations they should bear. For example, in advancing the construction of high-seas marine protected areas, the early-stage open-ocean scientific research and exploration and the later-stage routine monitoring, management, and maintenance all require enormous resources. Although some countries agree with the protection goals, they are unwilling to invest efforts in joint construction, constraining the implementation of high-seas protection measures. The interweaving and overlapping of the above two factors cause many marine ecological protection initiatives to remain on paper, and the consensus already reached by all parties is difficult to translate into tangible action.
III
The complex and diverse governance problems reflect the shortcomings of the existing global ocean governance system, and it is imperative to improve governance arrangements and recalibrate governance paths. Looking ahead, global ocean governance should adhere to the vision of a maritime community with a shared future, uphold the global governance concept of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, break out of the zero-sum game mindset, shift the focus of governance from disagreement and rivalry to coordinated co-governance, and promote the building of a more just and equitable global ocean governance system.
Improve risk control and mutual trust arrangements, and jointly safeguard the maritime security order. Advancing the reform of maritime security governance requires safeguarding the openness and public nature of the maritime commons on the basis of respecting the legitimate security concerns of all countries. It is necessary both to rely on sound risk control to hold the security bottom line and to deepen mutual trust arrangements to defuse the hidden dangers of confrontation, forming a maritime security governance system based on international rule of law, with risk mitigation as a means and practical cooperation enhancing mutual trust. The purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the Convention should be strictly observed, the behavior of certain countries in selectively applying international maritime rules should be constrained, the practice of creating camp confrontation through unilateral claims should be abandoned, and the instrumentalization and weaponization of key shipping lanes, seabed facilities, and polar waters should be opposed. A normalized chain of maritime crisis control should be established, and practical mechanisms such as emergency consultation and risk early warning should be improved to provide important safeguards for handling maritime emergencies and prevent local incidents from escalating into confrontation and conflict. Practical cooperation in non-traditional security fields such as maritime search and rescue, protection of key seabed infrastructure, and combating piracy should be continuously carried out to alleviate the confrontational pressure brought by geopolitical rivalry and shape a maritime security governance pattern of "equality and mutual trust, fairness and justice, and joint contribution and shared benefits."
Build a balanced framework of interests that takes into account both development rights and stewardship responsibilities, and promote inclusive and shared deep-sea resource development. The core of the contradiction in deep-sea governance is not simply whether to build rules, but is concentrated in the questions of whom the rules serve and how rights and responsibilities are matched. Deep-sea minerals are the common heritage of mankind, and institutional design cannot simply move toward the two extremes of a complete moratorium or unconstrained exploitation, but must coordinate protection obligations and development rights, bridge the capacity gap, and rationalize the distribution of benefits. In rule consultations, an equilibrium-oriented approach should be upheld, taking into account the legitimate development demands of all countries, and setting up provisions such as technology transfer support and capacity assistance to resolve the dilemma of some countries having "rights but no capacity." A fair and transparent benefit-sharing mechanism should be established, the environmental responsibilities and contribution obligations of commercial entities engaged in deep-sea resource development should be regulated, the monopoly of deep-sea dividends by a small number of countries and a small amount of capital should be prevented, and the development outcomes should be shared by the international community, achieving the organic unity of protection, development, and fair distribution.
Improve the construction of cross-border coordinated compliance mechanisms, and jointly protect the marine ecosystem. Institutional changes in the marine ecological field require grasping the intrinsic relationship between institutional implementation and coordinated action. The key to achieving deeper and more practical marine ecological protection lies in building consensus among all parties and strengthening coordinated action.It is necessary not only to make full use of existing institutional arrangements, but also to promote the alignment of the actions of all countries with institutional goals. The implementation of the BBNJ Agreement should be steadily advanced, the coordination and integration of various environmental conventions and governance arrangements at the global and regional levels should be enhanced, and the problem of insufficient coordination among marine governance mechanisms should be resolved. The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities should be upheld, a long-term cross-regional marine environment monitoring, coordinated governance, and emergency response network for sudden pollution should be established, and the shortcomings of relevant parties in observation equipment, governance funds, environmental protection technology, and other fields should be addressed. The positive incentive mechanism for ecological protection with shared costs and shared benefits should be continuously improved, thereby driving countries to carry out joint conservation actions on a regular basis and jointly curb the trend of declining marine biodiversity.
Authors' affiliation: Institute of Foreign-Related Rule of Law and Security, China Institute of International Studies
Return to TopBy: 杨云成
Study Q&A
How to Understand Upholding the Building of a High-Caliber Cadre Force Capable of Shouldering the Heavy Task of National Rejuvenation
Yang Yuncheng
Upholding the building of a high-caliber cadre force capable of shouldering the heavy task of national rejuvenation is one of the Fourteen Commitments (十四个坚持) of Xi Jinping's thought on Party building. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party listed "forging a high-caliber cadre force capable of shouldering the heavy task of national rejuvenation" as a dedicated chapter, emphasizing that the key to full and rigorous self-governance of the Party lies in strict governance of officials, and making arrangements in such areas as upholding the correct orientation for selecting and appointing officials, selecting and appointing officials with precision and scientific rigor, promoting officials' establishment and practice of a correct view of political achievements, enhancing officials' abilities to undertake work and start undertakings, improving the quality of cultivating and selecting outstanding young officials, and strengthening the management and oversight of officials. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "To respond to changes in the situation, foster new opportunities, open up new prospects, and pursue national rejuvenation, the key is to build and strengthen the leading bodies and cadre forces at all levels of the Party." Whether a high-caliber cadre force capable of shouldering the heavy task of national rejuvenation can be forged bears on the flourishing development and enduring peace and stability of the cause of the Party and the state.
Marxist classical writers have always attached importance to the role of cadres in the cause of the Party. Lenin once said: "We must study people, we must seek capable cadres. This is the crux of the matter now; without this, all orders and resolutions are nothing but dirty scraps of paper." Attaching importance to strengthening the building of the cadre force is also a fine tradition and basic experience of our Party. Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out: "The Communist Party of China is a party leading a great revolutionary struggle in a great nation of several hundred million people; without a large number of leading cadres possessing both talent and integrity (德才兼备, de cai jian bei - "virtue, talent, both possess"), it cannot accomplish its historical tasks." In the 1950s, when some Eastern European countries experienced turmoil, we, however, remained calm and composed in the face of difficulties (任凭风浪起，稳坐钓鱼船, ren ping feng lang qi, wen zuo diao yu chuan - "allow the waves to rise, sit steadily in the fishing boat"). Comrade Mao Zedong believed that an important reason was that our Party had a cadre force that had been tested through long-term struggles in various periods, whereas "they did not have such a set of cadres." In 1992, during his southern tour talks, Comrade Deng Xiaoping emphasized: "Whether China's affairs can be handled well, whether socialism and reform and opening up can be upheld, whether the economy can develop a bit faster, and whether the country can enjoy enduring peace and stability — in a certain sense, the key lies in people." The historical experience of our Party in leading revolution, construction, and reform, as well as the profound lessons of the evolution of some socialist countries and parties in the world, all confirm this truth: whether outstanding leading talents can be continuously cultivated determines, to a large extent, the rise and fall, survival and extinction of the cause of the Party and the state.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has placed the building of the cadre force in a prominent position in managing and governing the Party and in revitalizing and strengthening the Party, put forward the standards for good cadres in the new era, made a series of important arrangements, and led and promoted the continuous improvement of the abilities and qualities of the cadre force. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "For our Party to unite and lead the people in creating a new situation for the development of the cause, we must cultivate and forge a high-caliber cadre force capable of shouldering the heavy task of national rejuvenation." Chinese modernization is an expedition filled with glory and dreams; it is both the most difficult and the greatest. Speaking of the most difficult, it lies in the unprecedented risks and challenges and the intricate and complex contradictions and problems; speaking of the greatest, it lies in blazing an unprecedented new path in a large country with a population of more than one billion. The more arduous the task, the more there must be people to shoulder it; the more severe the challenge, the more there must be people to charge forward; the more complex the situation, the more there must be people to break the deadlock. Such burdens cannot be shouldered without a high-caliber backbone cadre force that is possessing both talent and integrity, loyal, clean, and responsible. Judging from the current state of the cadre force, the overall quality is good, but there are also phenomena that are incompatible with the new journey and new tasks. Some lack political acuity and have not firmly established the purpose of serving the people, and they cannot stand firm or hold their ground in the face of major issues of right and wrong and temptations of interest; some lack the spirit of responsibility and the ability to fight, avoiding contradictions when they encounter them and passing difficult problems upward; and some lack the spirit of practical work, engage in formalism and bureaucratism, and devote their minds to creating showpieces and doing empty work. These problems show that advancing the building of a high-caliber cadre force still has a long way to go and heavy responsibilities to bear.
How to build a high-caliber cadre force capable of shouldering the heavy task of national rejuvenation? First, we must clearly establish the orientation for selecting and appointing officials and achieve precise and scientific selection and appointment. For the country to become prosperous and strong and the nation to be rejuvenated, the more good cadres there are and the higher their quality, the better. And who is selected and who is appointed is precisely setting the standard and establishing the benchmark for "high caliber." Whatever orientation there is for employing people, there will be a corresponding political environment for officials and a corresponding drive for officials to work, just as the saying goes, "When one worthy person is employed, all worthy people will come; emulating the conduct of virtuous people (见贤思齐, jian xian si qi - "see, worthy, think, emulate") will become the prevailing trend." During the Spring and Autumn period, Yan Zi, a senior minister of the State of Qi, once proposed that "the state has three inauspicious signs," namely, "having worthy people but not knowing them," "knowing them but not employing them," and "employing them but not trusting them." Only by vigorously selecting and appointing cadres who are loyal to the Party, being consistent in words and deeds (表里如一, biao li ru yi - "surface, inside, as one"), responsible and dedicated, with outstanding practical achievements, and clean and honest, can we fully mobilize the initiative, enthusiasm, and creativity of the broad ranks of cadres and form a mighty force for advancing Chinese modernization. At present, the rotation of local leading bodies is being carried out in an orderly manner. We must establish a clear orientation that values practical work and practical results, so that cadres who dare to take responsibility, are courageous in shouldering responsibility, are good at taking action, and have outstanding practical achievements are given important positions and have prospects, and resolutely prevent the situation where doing more and doing less are treated the same, and doing well and doing poorly are treated the same. We must promote the normalization of leading cadres being able to move up and down, form a sound situation in which the capable are promoted, the excellent are rewarded, the mediocre are demoted, and the inferior are eliminated, so that the cadre force always maintains a source of constant vitality and renewal (一池活水, yi chi huo shui - "one, pool, living, water").
Selecting and appointing people is the premise; education and cultivation are the foundation. The "political firmness, adaptability to the requirements of the new era, and ability to lead modernization" proposed by the 20th National Congress of the Party, and the "political firmness, strong abilities, fine work style, and strict discipline" proposed by the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party, both point out the goals and directions for forging a high-caliber cadre force. We must place the improvement of political ability in a more prominent position, unswervingly use Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to forge souls and consolidate minds, consciously maintain a high degree of consistency with the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core in thought, politics, and action, practice the Two Upholds (两个维护) with concrete actions, embody loyalty to the Party in implementing the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee well, strictly observe political discipline and political rules, continuously enhance political judgment, political understanding, and political execution, and make one's political ability match the work responsibilities one undertakes. We must, in an organized and planned manner, place cadres on the front lines of reform, development, and stability and in key demanding positions for training, educate and guide cadres at all levels to fully, accurately, and comprehensively implement the new development philosophy, accelerate the construction of the new development pattern, follow well the Party's mass line in the new era, strengthen the cultivation of the spirit of struggle and the ability to struggle, enhance the ability to promote high-quality development, the ability to serve the masses, and the ability to prevent and defuse risks, and strive to become experts and masters in various fields of modernization.
Building a high-caliber cadre force capable of shouldering the heavy task of national rejuvenation cannot be separated from effective management and oversight. Strict management is deep care and is truly being responsible for cadres. We must strengthen all-round management and regular oversight of cadres, guide cadres to further enhance their awareness of discipline and rules, become accustomed to working and living in an environment of oversight and constraint, and forge a fine work style. We must promptly offer reminders and warnings on problems of a budding or tendentious nature, preventing small problems from becoming big problems and small seepages from turning into major collapses. At the same time, we must recognize that strict management does not mean managing cadres to death, nor does it mean turning the cadre force into a pool of stagnant water, lifeless and gloomy; rather, it means inspiring cadres to enhance their drive and spirit for undertaking work and starting undertakings. We must adhere to combining strict management with deep care and balancing incentives with constraints, improve the whole-chain mechanism of political encouragement, work support, treatment guarantees, and psychological care for cadres, encourage innovation and tolerate mistakes while strengthening responsibility constraints, unequivocally support and embolden cadres who dare to take responsibility, let cadres work with confidence and boldness on the premise of observing rules and discipline, so that the endogenous motivation and overall vitality of the cadre force fully surge forth, injecting lasting momentum into the building of a strong country and the rejuvenation of the nation.
Author: Director of the Department of Party History and Party Building Teaching and Research, Party School of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China; Researcher at the Beijing Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era
Return to TopBy: 周灵玺
Dear Comrade Editor:
Grassroots work involves a vast number of complex matters (千头万绪, qian tou wan xu - "thousand, head, ten thousand, threads"), with intertwined contradictions and diverse demands. When facing the masses' urgent difficulties and anxious expectations, whether one detours around them or steps up to meet them, whether one is satisfied with "having checked the task off" or pursues "having done it well," tests the quality of a cadre's sense of responsibility and level of capability.
In grassroots work, what is most feared is not that problems are complex, but that cadres first conclude in their minds that they cannot be solved. A phrase like "there is no policy from above," "there is no precedent before," or "conditions are not in place" may seem well-founded and well-reasoned (有理有据, you li you ju - "have, reason, have, evidence"), but in reality it packages "unwillingness to solve" as "inability to solve." Only when the heart holds the conviction that "a solution exists" will the feet take action to "seek a solution." When facing difficult problems, one must discard fixed ways of thinking, say less "cannot be done" and think more about "how it can be done," find fewer reasons for "it cannot be handled" and more methods for "it can be accomplished."
"Having a solution" resolves the issue of "having done it," while "having an optimal solution" can resolve the issue of "having done it well." For the same problem, different methods yield vastly different results. Some cadres are accustomed to "one-size-fits-all" and "boiling everything in one pot"; problems may appear solved, but in reality sequelae are left behind. Other cadres are adept at "one key opening one lock," applying targeted measures and applying the right remedy to a specific problem (对症下药, dui zheng xia yao - "against, symptoms, apply, medicine"), resolving both an extremely urgent matter (燃眉之急, ran mei zhi ji - "burn, eyebrow, particle, urgency") and removing worries about the future.
Grassroots work has no standard answer, but it does have better methods of solution. There should be less perfunctory "having done it" and more persistence in "having done it well"; less sloppy "good enough" and more pursuit of "flawless." The heavier the tasks of reform and development, the more Party members and cadres need to sink to the front line, immerse themselves among the masses, establish the attitude of "having a solution" and set the standard of "having an optimal solution," building confidence, sharpening vigor, and gathering popular support through solid and earnest work.
Zhou Lingxi, Organization Department of the Zhongyuan District Committee of Zhengzhou City, Henan Province
Return to TopBy: 王金秋
Nowadays, some cadres, when encountering matters, experience a kind of "competence panic" of "having ideas but no methods": facing new tasks, they have ideas and approaches in their minds, but the moment it comes to the implementation level, they "get stuck," facing problems such as lacking professional knowledge, lacking operational pathways, and lacking overall coordination methods. Turning "ideas" into "methods" is not an unsolvable problem; the key lies in recharging through study, tempering through practice, seeking counsel from the masses, and breaking through through the assumption of responsibility.
Methods come from study. One must study with problems in mind, study systematically and in depth, and keep pace with the times (与时俱进, yu shi ju jin - "with, time, follow, advance"), centering on core tasks to fill gaps in knowledge, cover blind spots in experience, digest and absorb what is learned, and transform the "stock" of knowledge reserves into the "increment" that solves problems.
Methods come from practice. One must place oneself into practice, discover problems in hands-on operations, adjust thinking in the course of advancement, distill patterns in review and summarization, and let "ideas" step by step become "methods" that are operable, implementable, and assessable.
Methods come from the masses. One must set aside airs, get down to the grassroots, sincerely listen to the opinions and suggestions of the masses, seek inspiration and pathways from the masses' "indigenous methods," systematize scattered experience, and transform "the stratagem of one locality" into institutional achievements that can be replicated and promoted.
Methods come from the assumption of responsibility. One must carry forward the enterprising spirit of braving danger despite knowing the risks (明知山有虎，偏向虎山行, ming zhi shan you hu, pian xiang hu shan xing - "know, mountain, has, tiger; leaning, toward, tiger, mountain, walk"), dare to go to places where contradictions are concentrated, dare to touch problems that have long remained unresolved, and be tempered in the assumption of responsibility and grow in the fulfillment of duty.
(Excerpted from People's Forum Online)
By: 国家统计局
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